The Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council discussed Thursday potential nominees to succeed Freedom and Justice Party head Mohamed Morsy if he wins the presidential election, sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Meeting participants also discussed who would succeed People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny as FJP secretary general. Reformist figures including Mohamed Gamal Heshmat, Helmi al-Gazzar, Essam al-Erian and Mohamed al-Beltagy are being considered for top positions in order to “redeem past political mistakes,” the sources added.
One Shura Council member reportedly suggested that the group and the political party be separated because “pairing them together has achieved bad results.”
An official with the Brotherhood’s administrative offices in Upper Egypt demanded during the meeting that officials in governorates that failed to achieve positive results in the first round of the presidential election resign or be punished, the sources said. This demand was reportedly laughed off by the rest of the meeting participants.
Shura Council member Saad Emara said the meeting focused on Morsy’s presidential campaign. Emara called on the group to intensify their efforts to ensure that Morsy succeeds in the second round.
The Brotherhood will reportedly reach out to the Coptic Church and Egypt’s Christian population based on instructions from Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and the Shura Council.
Abdallah Sayaf, a member of the Shura Council from Beni Suef, said the Brotherhood and the FJP have met with the church, the campaign of former Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, the Salafi Nour Party, and Jama’a al-Islamiya to secure their support for Morsy. The meetings have been promising, he added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
