ICC Note:
“A popular reformist leader in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said he will run for president, in a move that raises the possibility that Islamist politicians could dominate the country’s presidency and its parliament,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
By Matt Bradley
5/13/2011 Egypt (The Wall Street Journal) – A popular reformist leader in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said he will run for president, in a move that raises the possibility that Islamist politicians could dominate the country’s presidency and its parliament.
The announcement by Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the 59-year-old head of the Arab Doctors’ Union and a member of the Brotherhood’s legislative Shura Council, marks a break with the group’s leadership.
The organization months earlier promised not to field a candidate in the presidential election, in order to quell concerns that Islamists sought to take power in the wake of the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February.
On Thursday, the Brotherhood distanced itself from Dr. Aboul Fotouh, suggesting he could be suspended from the organization because of his candidacy if he doesn’t resign first. He has said he will run as an independent.
The Muslim Brotherhood, though outlawed under the Mubarak regime, is the country’s most powerful political organization, having built support throughout the country as a health and education charity.
Though it disavaowed violence in the 1970s and preaches a relatively moderate form of political Islam, some Western governments worry that an Egypt under Brotherhood control could reshape regional politics, particularly if it were to cancel a peace treaty with Israel. The Brotherhood has said it stands by the treaty.
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