The Muslim Brotherhood is discussing whether to field a candidate in the upcoming presidential election*, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie said Sunday.
During a meeting with group leaders in Kafr al-Sheikh, Badie said the Brotherhood changed its previous position after several Mubarak-era figures announced their intent to run for president.
Badie told the group leaders that a Brotherhood candidate might be necessary to achieve the demands of the revolution, according to the official Facebook page of the group’s Freedom and Justice Party.
The Brotherhood had previously announced it would not field a presidential candidate, saying the group would instead support a candidate from outside its own party to ensure a representative balance of power.
In recent months, contradicting reports about the group’s potential candidate have emerged, and speculation has grown about which hopeful would benefit from the Brotherhood vote.
“This is not to dishonor our earlier promises, but the current situation in Egypt prompted us to reconsider our stance. Egypt’s interests are our top goal,” Badie said.
“One reason for that [change] is the government’s weak performance. The cabinet has to leave, and we have the personnel and the experience to do the task,” the leader said.
Referring to the group’s new stance, Badie said that game-changing candidates had emerged, requiring the group to adjust its political tactics.
“At the beginning, we refused to field a presidential candidate, but now changes are taking place, and there are former regime figures like Omar Suleiman — there are even signatures being gathered supporting Mubarak for president,” he said.
Among competitors for the elections slated for 23 and 24 May are three candidates who served as officials under Mubarak: former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Badie added that the group refuses to back its former senior member, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, who had violated the group’s previous decision by announcing his candidacy months ago.
During the meeting, Badie also renewed the group’s attack on Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s cabinet.
“We backed this government in the beginning, but we have found that it started to produce crises. … Whenever Parliament summons government officials for questioning, they do not show up,” Badie said. “The last straw was when the government lifted the travel ban on American NGO workers accused in the illegal funding case.”
Anybody who uses the Brotherhood as a tool to scare the country’s Christian community is doomed to fail, Badie said.
He added that the Brotherhood will seek to apply “the spirit of Islamic law” before people are ready to apply God’s law completely.
*Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly implied that the Brotherhood had made a final decision to field a presidential candidate. The group is still discussing whether or not to field one.
