The Nour Party will meet Thursday to choose the Islamist candidate it will endorse for president, said the head of Parliament’s Proposals and Complaints Committee.
The party is on equal footing with all Islamist candidates, and is in touch with all Islamist forces to settle on one presidential candidate in order to unify the Islamist vote, Nour MP Talaat Marzouk told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Party sources did not rule out the possibility of supporting ex-Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh in the race if Hazem Salah Abu Ismail and Khairat al-Shater are confirmed excluded, especially if Islamists and liberals agree on supporting him. Abouel Fotouh’s experience qualifies him to lead the country, the sources added.
A spokesperson from the party’s parliamentary bloc, Ahmed Khalil, also called on Islamist forces to agree on and support one presidential candidate.
Khalil told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Salafis have massive popularity in the streets and are capable of helping a candidate win the presidential race, and will not support a candidate who does not believe in their Islamic project.
Khaled Saeed, a spokesperson for the Salafi Front, which supports Abu Ismail, said there are contacts between Islamist movements to agree upon a single candidate in case Abu Ismail and Shater’s bans are upheld.
Abouel Fotouh is the closest candidate remaining to be supported by Islamists, including the Salafi Front, Saeed added.
Islamists are still pondering their position on the candidate bans, but refuse to turn this into a war because the country is bigger than Islamist candidates, he said, adding that the front stands against what he called suspicious calls to use violence.
"Abu Ismail is a case with two sides. If he was banned for a legal reason, we will submit to the fair judiciary. If it becomes clear that he was banned illegally, peaceful protest will be the only way," Saeed said.
