The Muslim Brotherhood’s chosen presidential candidate said Saturday that the group will not rule if he wins the election, adding that Egypt’s president should have a neutral position towards all political powers.
Mohamed Morsy, who is chief of the group’s Freedom and Justice Party, said he would abide by the constitution and not the Brotherhood’s regulations if becomes president. He said he would resign from his position as party chief if elected, speaking in Damanhour at his first press conference as the group’s nominee.
The candidate said he would consult the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces before appointing his defense minister.
“But that does not mean that they will make the decision,” he said.
Morsy severely criticized some media professionals who he said “are paid to tarnish the image of Islamists.”
He said some satellite channel owners are businessmen who are part of the Mubarak regime and want “to maintain their interests by reproducing the regime once more.”
Morsy warned that if figures from the former regime reach power, “Egyptians will stage a new revolution” that would be stronger than the last one.
Khairat al-Shater, the Brotherhood's deputy supreme guide and its former choice for president, and several Brotherhood MPs from Beheira attended the conference. The Presidential Elections Commission had disqualified Shater from participating in the race.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
