Yesterday, we posted a video of Mohamed Mursi sitting behind an Islamic cleric, nodding as that cleric pledged that Mursi would make Jerusalem the Caliphate capital.

Today, let there be no doubt that Mursi may as well have said the words himself.

Via Ahram Online:

Egyptian presidential contender Mohamed Mursi on Monday announced his intention to apply Islamic Law in Egypt in the event he became Egypt’s next head of state.

Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, declared that the application of Islamic Law represented the sole means by which Egyptians might “restore their dignity.” Mursi went on to stress that Islamic Law also represented the best means of guaranteeing the rights of Egypt’s Christian minority.

Speaking in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Sheikh, Mursi also discussed the Brotherhood’s Al-Nahda (‘Renaissance’) Project. Within the context of the project, which aims at achieving Egypt’s national revival after 30 years of Mubarak-era autocracy, “we will work like soldiers to develop the agriculture, health and education sectors,” Mursi said.

Does that sound like a candidate Brotherhood cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi would support? Maybe, but it’s not. The Muslim Brotherhood leader isn’t supporting the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. He’s supporting the former Muslim Brotherhood member.

Mursi is currently vying with renegade Islamist candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh for the hotly-contested Islamist vote. Recent weeks have seen several major Islamist parties and movements come out in support of Abul-Fotouh’s presidential bid, including the moderate-Islamist Wasat Party, Al-Jamaaa Al-Islamiya, Alexandria’s Salafist Calling and the Salafist Nour Party.

Several of these parties and movements have already issued calls for the immediate application of Islamic Law in Egypt. Some observers see Mursi’s promise to apply Islamic Law as a bid to woo the Islamist vote.

Abul-Fotouh is a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood but was expelled from the group after last year’s revolution due to his insistence on running for president, despite the group’s stated policy of refraining from fielding a candidate. The Brotherhood, however, later changed its position in this regard, fielding Mursi at the last minute as its official candidate.

These are candidates who represent a group that John McCain says is a “repudiation of Al-Qaeda.”

Ben Barrack is a talk show host and author of the upcoming book, Unsung Davids