Brotherhood candidate registers

Khairat el-Shater, a leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, formally registered himself as a candidate in the presidential election on Thursday amid cheers from supporters.

"The people want Shater for president," the group of about 2,000 supporters chanted.

Shater, 61, a millionaire businessman and leading strategist in the Brotherhood, is now a seen as a leading contender for the presidency.

Making waves

The announcement that Shater would run, however, sent political shockwaves throughout Egypt last week as people accused the Brotherhood of trying to monopolize power.

Thanks to the Brotherhood's grassroots network nationwide, Shater stands a good chance of winning the presidency.

The Brotherhood, which dominates parliament and the senate through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), had originally pledged not to field a candidate for the May election. That decision was overturned, however, when the ruling military refused to sack the government and replace it with an FJP-led cabinet.

The candidates

Shater's bid brings the number of Islamist candidates to three, which could mean a split of the Islamist vote. The other two include a man who follows a stricter Salafi interpretation of Islam and another with more moderate views who was recently expelled from the Brotherhood for launching his campaign before the group had changed its position on fielding a candidate.

If the Islamist vote is split, it could be beneficial for two other contenders, including Amr Moussa, the former head of the Arab League who served as Mubarak's foreign minister in the 1990s, and Mubarak's prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq.

In March, before Shater was named as a candidate, a poll showed Moussa as the frontrunner, the Salafi candidate, Hazem Salah Abus Ismail, as second, and Shafiq as third.

Changes in store

The rise of Islamists is being closely watched by the West, but Western officials have offered to meet Brotherhood officials, including Shater.

Since being named as a candidate, Shater has pledged to introduce sharia or Islamic law as his “first and final” objective if elected. He also pledged to reform the Interior Ministry.

The first round of voting is May 23-24, followed by a second round on June 16-17.

This will be the first presidential election since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 that led to the current military rule. The military is scheduled to hand over power to the winner in June.

tm/pfd (Reuters, AFP)