Three Muslim Brotherhood leaders have left the group following the nomination Saturday of former Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat al-Shater as the group's candidate for president. The group's decision broke its former promise that it would not field a candidate in the presidential elections. The resignations of Kamal al-Halabawy, former group spokesperson; Ahmed al-Komy, a member from Gharbiya; and Reda Ahmed, a member from Sherbin, came less than 24 hours after Shater's nomination. On his Facebook page, Komy said the group's principle of “absolute” obedience should be reviewed, and the group needs to be restructured. “I did not expect to leave the group one day,” he wrote. “But now I question the culture of its members.” Ahmed said he gave up his 20-year membership of the group because for the last five years he was not convinced of the group's decisions, and said it behaved as if it was an infallible organization. Halabawy said the military council would use Shater to eliminate the revolution, then eliminate the group itself. The announcement of Shater's presidential candidacy is a historical first for the 83-year-old group, which originally pledged that no member would run for president to calm secular and Western government's fears of a complete Islamist takeover by the group.
