Egypt’s Wasat supports Abul Fotouh

The Egyptian Wasat Party has endorsed Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotouh’s presidential bid, as candidates officially begin their campaign. On Sunday, Egypt’s al-Wasat Party decided to endorse the former leading Muslim Brotherhood figure after he received 63 percent of the party’s votes. Islamic intellectual and judicial expert Selim El-Awa also received 23 percent of the vote. The presidential election campaign began on Monday and is expected to last through May 21. A prominent political activist, Abul Fotouh was expelled from the Muslim Brotherhood last June after announcing plans to run for president. The Muslim Brotherhood later decided to set forth Khairat al-Shater as the group’s presidential candidate. However, the Egyptian electoral commission disqualified Khairat al-Shater. Egypt's polls, the country’s first-ever freely contested presidential elections, are scheduled to be held on May 23-24, and a run-off will follow on June 16-17 if necessary. The military council took power in the aftermath of the last February revolution in Egypt that overthrew long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak’s Western-backed regime. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) promised to step down after a six-month period and hand over power to a civilian government, a pledge it has so far failed to fulfill. text here