Egypt's Brotherhood picks alternate candidate

Egypt's most powerful political group, the Muslim Brotherhood, announced Saturday it is nominating the head of its party as a back-up candidate for president in the face of attempts to disqualify their primary nominee.       

The decision to put forth a second candidate was spurred by fears that the ruling military council may use Egypt's election committee to disqualify Islamist presidential hopefuls in order to make room for former regime officials to win.       

The upcoming election, slated for the end of May, is the first presidential vote since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power. It is a crucial election for both the military and the Brotherhood, which are already sparring for power. The military wants to keep control of key security and economic portfolios until at least June, when a new president is announced, while the Brotherhood is pushing to name a new government first.       

In a statement released late Saturday, the Brotherhood said they are putting forth party leader Mohammed Morsi as an alternate to Khairat el-Shater, the group's chief strategist and financier.       

Any candidates have just one day before the deadline for submitting applications to run for president. They will have to get the backing of 30 lawmakers or 30,000 signatures by Sunday evening.       

The Brotherhood, which emerged from last year's uprising as the most powerful party in Egypt when it won nearly half the seats in parliament, said in its statement that there appear to be efforts by Egypt's election committee to disqualify certain candidates from the race.       

"There are attempts to create barriers for some candidates," the Brotherhood said, adding that there are those who want the former regime to return to power.       

Others who have expressed interest in running for president are Mubarak's ex-deputy and longtime spy chief Omar Suleiman, his ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, and his ex-foreign minister and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa.      

AP