The campaign for eliminated presidential contender Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh released a statement on Sunday declaring its support for Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi.
The statement emphasised that backing Mursi, who heads up the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), represented the only way to defeat presidential finalist Ahmed Shafiq, ousted president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister.
The Abul-Fotouh campaign added that the decision was a means of maintaining its struggle to purge state institutions of all elements of the former regime. The decision came in the wake of negotiations between the Abul-Fotouh campaign and various post-revolution political forces, including the Brotherhood.
Abul-Fotouh campaigners added that they chose to throw their weight behind Mursi after different political parties and forces agreed that Egypt’s 100-member constituent assembly – tasked with drafting a new constitution – should be evenly divided between Islamist and non-Islamist figures.
The Abul-Fotouh campaign described the agreement as a “positive step” on the part of FJP representatives in parliament.
The campaign went on to urge Mursi to encourage the public to vote for him by signing a written pledge to fulfil outstanding demands of last year’s Tahrir Square uprising; appoint a non-FJP figure to the post of prime minister; and appoint a government representative of all Egyptians in the event that he wins the presidency.
Mursi and Shafiq are set to face off in a hotly-contested runoff vote on 16 and 17 June.
