Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood May Field Presidential Candidate

Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the movement, said the organization’s governing body has so far found none of the declared candidates worthy of its support and is therefore considering nominating one of its own in the election, set to begin May 23, The Medialine reports.

The situation may change now, Mahmoud Hussein, the Brotherhood's general secretary told AP, as the group is “forced to consider the option of fielding a candidate from its own ranks.”

Privately, officials close to the Brotherhood told the Associated Press that discussions are centering on Khairat Al-Shater, the group's top financier. The Brotherhood’s political party already dominates the newly elected parliament and any presidential candidate it chooses to field would stand a good chance of winning office, thereby cementing the group’s hold on the country’s emergent democracy.

The Brotherhood had earlier promised to stay out of the presidential race to quell fears on the part of liberal groups that it would impose its Islamic values by controlling two branches of government. The organization's younger members have been pressing the Brotherhood to back former Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who is running for president and is regarded as a progressive. He is said to be a rival of Khairat Al-Shater.