We’ve been following the race for president of Egypt for some time now and gave our take on the candidates here. That field, as we suspected, has winnowed down to a two person race between Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh and Amr Moussa.
Via the Chicago Tribune:
Egypt enters the last stage of its first democratic presidential race on Monday with its field narrowing to a two-horse race between the urbane former head of the Arab League and a charismatic Islamist medic jailed for years under Hosni Mubarak.
A poll published in state-run al-Ahram daily on Monday showed veteran diplomat Amr Moussa in the lead, followed by Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, who has emerged in recent days as the leading Islamist candidate after securing the support of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement.
Both men are well ahead of 11 other candidates and, for now, look the most likely to face each other in a second round. That would give Egyptians a stark choice about the future of the Arab world’s most populous state.
Moussa, 75, served for a decade as Mubarak’s foreign minister before taking over the leadership of the Arab League, and must win over voters skeptical of the old elite.
Abol Fotouh, 60, grew to prominence in the 1970s as a student activist opposing Egypt’s military rulers and was jailed in the 1990s as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he split from last year. He needs to maintain the support of Islamists, while reassuring secular Egytians he will not impose a radical transformation on society.
Fotouh is what we like to call the Muslim Brotherhood’s “slick willy” candidate. He’s a former member of the Brotherhood who was expelled from the group ostensibly for running for president, something the Ikhwan (Brotherhood) said it wouldn’t do. Fotouh portrays modernity and comes across as moderate. You would think that endorsements from Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the openly radical Salafists would awaken people to this fact but, alas…
Conversely, Mousa really isn’t all that much better. Haaretz is reporting that Mousa was quoted as saying the peace deal between Egypt and Israel is “dead and buried.”
Breathe in deep…… How’s the stench of that Arab Spring now?