The Muslim Brotherhood is apparently divided over the dilemma of whether or not to support Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh’s presidential candidacy. Brotherhood MP Yousri Bayoumi has already announced his support for Fotouh without waiting for the party’s official announcement. Bayoumi’s announcement comes amid reports that five Brotherhood MPs are coordinating with the Wasat Party to back Fotouh, prompting the Brotherhood’s Shura Council to convene an emergency meeting on the issue. 

ELECTIONS: 

1) The Muslim Brotherhood has "no prejudice" against one of its former leaders and current presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said. “The issue was a decision taken after the revolution not to nominate a Muslim Brotherhood candidate for the presidential election, as we feared an aborting of the revolution using the Brotherhood as a scarecrow, which the former [Mubarak] regime always used to do to distort [the Brotherhood]," Ghozlan said. Ghozlan also denied reports that the group had already decided to support Mansour Hassan, the head the Advisory Council. He also dismissed rumors that the FJP would back any candidate prior to consulting with the Brotherhood. The FJP parliamentary bloc coordinates with the group’s Guidance Bureau, and their decisions will be consistent, Ghozlan said. [al-Ahram, English, 3/15/2012]

2) The Muslim Brotherhood is apparently divided over the dilemma of whether or not to support Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh’s presidential candidacy. Brotherhood MP Yousri Bayoumi has already announced his support for Fotouh without waiting for the party’s official announcement. Bayoumi’s announcement comes amid reports that five Brotherhood MPs are coordinating with the Wasat Party to  back Fotouh, prompting the Brotherhood’s Shura Council to convene an emergency meeting on the issue. [al-Dostor, Arabic, 3/15/2012] 

3) The Wafd Party is facing a deepening internal schism over the executive bureau’s decision to back Mansour Hassan over Amr Moussa amid calls for a re-vote on the nominee. Fifty Wafd MPs are threatening to resign from the party if the endorsement of Mansour Hassan is not dropped. [al-Dostor, Arabic, 3/15/2012] 

TRIALS:

4) Egypt’s prosecutor general has referred 75 people to criminal court in connection with soccer riots last month in Port Said that left over 70 people dead. The defendants include nine members of the police and three officials from the Masry football club. [al-Ahram, English, 3/15/2012] 

PARLIAMENT: 

5) The deputy speaker of the People’s Assembly, the Salafi Nour Party’s Ashraf Thabet, has rejected (in his personal capacity) calls for a cabinet reshuffle and denied that the SCAF is interfering with the parliament’s decision. [al-Ahram, English, 3/15/2012] 

6) FJP MP and member of the party’s executive bureau, Farid Ismail, said “we are working hard to withdraw confidence from Kamal Ganzouri’s government.” [al-Dostor, Arabic, 3/15/2012] 

7) The Freedom and Justice Party should have the right to appoint a new prime minister if Parliament withdraws confidence from the current cabinet, FJP Chairman Mohamed Morsy said, adding that “the ministers should be from political parties or independents, in order to form a technocratic cabinet.” [al-Masry al-Youm, English, 3/15/2012] 

FOREIGN POLICY: 

8) The official spokesperson of the Syrian Foreign Ministry has stressed that relations between Egypt and Syria remain stable. "The two nations used to be united and fought wars together," Jihad Mukadsy said. "The Syrian people by nature love everything Egyptian and relations between the two nations are stronger than any crisis." [al-Ahram, English, 3/15/2012] 

ECONOMY: 

9) A new report published by the Information and Decision Support Center indicates that scientific brain drain is worsening in Egypt. Egypt was ranked 113 among 142 countries in the quality index of scientific research. Egypt’s educational system fell four places to 135 in the year 2010-2011. Egypt was 40 in the world regarding the availability of scientists, a drop from 25 the year before. [al-Ahram, English, 3/15/2012]

Photo Credit: New York Times

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