adminMohamed Beltagy, head of the Cairo bureau of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party used his Facebook page to air his disquiet at Saturday’s decision to field Khairat el-Shater, a top Brotherhood strategist and millionaire businessman, as presidential candidate.
“It is unfair for the nation and for the Brotherhood that it bears alone the responsibility for the nation completely in these critical times,” Beltagy wrote, adding that he had voted against the decision, but would respect the majority.
Egypt’s ruling military council, which took over after a popular uprising unseated President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011, has vowed to hand power to an elected president by 1 July. The first-round of voting takes place on 23 and 24 May.
Even without formally launching his campaign, Shater is viewed as one of the front runners because of the Brotherhood’s organisational clout and grassroots network.
He is pitted against Islamist candidates and others such as former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who had been tipped as favourite in the latest opinion poll before Shater’s entrance.
To back his argument, Beltagy pointed to the main state institutions that Brotherhood already dominates or is seeking to control, a list that now includes the presidency.
As well as constituting the biggest bloc in both houses of parliament, the Brotherhood dominates an assembly drawing up a new constitution, prompting liberals and
Christian leaders to quit in protest. It is also demanding that the military council sack the army-backed government and let it lead a new one.
The Brotherhood had said it wanted to avoid monopolising political institutions in the new Egypt and has angered some voters and rival politicians by reneging on its pledge. — RT.
Online Reporter