Presidential pick

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood announced on Saturday that it would back its deputy leader in the upcoming May presidential elections, reversing an earlier decision to not field a candidate and setting it up for a confrontation with liberal groups and the ruling military council.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political arm in the Egyptian parliament, said that it decided to support the Islamist organization's deputy leader Khayrat el-Shater out of concern that the country's revolution had stalled.

"We have witnessed obstacles standing in the way of parliament to take decisions to achieve the demands of the revolution," said Mohamed Morsy, head of the FJP.

"We have therefore chosen the path of the presidency not because we are greedy for power but because we have a majority in parliament which is unable to fulfill its duties in parliament," Morsy said.

Brotherhood on the rise

The Muslim Brotherhood's FJP swept to power after decisive victory in parliamentary elections that ended in January, winning approximately half the seats in the legislature. The Islamist organization had originally said it would not support a presidential candidate in order to allay fears among liberal groups and the Christian minority that it wanted to seize power.

The decision to support a candidate in the election reportedly divided the Muslim Brotherhood's advisory council, according to anonymous sources cited by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies. Shater's candidacy could further split the Islamist vote, with three other Islamist candidates running in the election.

Although he has little name recognition, Shater is considered a powerful figure within the Muslim Brotherhood. The multimillionaire businessman, who was jailed four times during former President Hosni Mubarak's rule, has led negotiations with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as well as with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Muslim Brotherhood has become increasingly critical of the ruling SCAF's management of the post-Mubarak interim period, which has been plagued by poor security and a fragile economy. After its strong showing in the parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood called on the military council to allow it to form a government, which the ruling generals refused.

slk/pfd (AP, Reuters)