The Salafist vote is up in the air, writes Amani Maged Salafist is the new buzzword in Egyptian politics. To think that only yesterday they confined themselves to their own mosques. They were quiet and cautious, keen to avoid drawing the attention of State Security which had dealt them generous doses of persecution. Then the 25 January Revolution came and changed their lot. They emerged from their refuges and began to practice politics. Soon we were able to discern two types of Salafist. The relatively cool and level headed engaged in the political process in a fairly normal way, establishing political parties. Others growled and bared their teeth. Many from this latter category can be seen with Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the presidential candidate whose devotees are said to number in the millions. All presidential candidates are now seeking to court the Salafist vote, says Islamist movement expert Ali Abdel-Aal. It is a process complicated by the fact that Salafis are divided over which candidate they should support. Abu Ismail, judging by the march held on 6 April, commands a great deal of support. "We won't stand for tricks," shouted the marchers, a reference to revelations that Ismail's mother had acquired US citizenship which technically bars Ismail from standing. The whiff of legal impropriety has done little to deter the enthusiasm of young Salafis. Many members of the Nour Party have threatened to resign if the party's leadership does not officially declare its support for Abu Ismail. Interestingly, a number of Muslim Brotherhood youth have also come out in favour of the Salafi leader over the Muslim Brotherhood's own candidate Khairat El-Shater. Other Salafis, though, are now inclined to back El-Shater, among them members of the Salafist Calling, a proselytising organisation founded in Alexandria and which now has branches throughout the country. Recently Salafist Calling leader Sheikh Yasser Borhami was recently forced to retract statements in support of El-Shater when faced by the group's Abu Ismail supporters. Not so long ago the Salafist Calling launched an initiative to rally Islamists together behind a single candidate to avoid splitting the Islamist vote. In a recent statement Borhami said that at the organisational and leadership level the Alexandria branch of Salafist Calling was still committed to this initiative and that their preferred candidate would be announced soon. Other supporters of the initiative include the Ansar Al-Sunna Al-Mohamediya (Champions of the Sunna of the Prophet), the Islamic Law Society and Salafist Calling branches elsewhere in the country. Salafist sources have stated that the final decision on who to support will be announced within days. Salafist Calling's Shura Council has already met with sheikhs and other leaders of the movement to canvas their opinions. Their views may not, however, concur with Salafist opinion at a grassroots level. According to several observers the popular Salafist vote has already narrowed to two choices: Abu Ismail and, now, El-Shater. So how will the vexed question of Ismail's mother's nationality impact on the final choice? When Abu Ismail took to the pulpit of the Assad Bin El-Firat Mosque in Doqqi to proclaim that his mother had acquired a US green card but not US citizenship his supporters cheered. Some declared their willingness to die on his behalf should "forged" papers be used to ban him from the presidential race. They are now awaiting the Administrative Court's ruling, convinced their candidate is telling the truth and that whatever the Presidential Elections Committee says about his mother's US nationality is a lie. A court ruling to the effect that Abu Ismail's mother never had dual nationality would be a huge publicity coup for him. His adversaries would be forced to condemn the "conspiracy" woven against him, as he puts it, and the bulk of the Salafist vote would fall squarely in his lap. If it is proved that Abu Ismail's mother did, indeed, possess an American passport, he will be forced to withdraw from the presidential race. His supporters will still insist he is the victim of a conspiracy and take to the streets but ultimately they will shift their support to El-Shater. Yet El-Shater's own candidacy is far from secure. Imprisoned several times on political charges, following the revolution he was released on "health grounds" and subsequently received a full pardon from SCAF, though this was for some reason kept secret at the time. The pardon is, in any case, of dubious legality, and El-Shater could still be forced to withdraw from the race. Who then would Salafist voters support? Some suggest former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh is the most likely candidate. Until questions over the eligibility of Abu Ismail and El-Shater are settled the question of who will be the Islamist front runner remains a game of musical chairs.
