CAIRO: Despite reports over the weekend that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was actively seeking a candidate to run for president, the group again reiterated previous statements that it would not field a candidate. On Sunday, the Freedom and Justice Party – an off-shoot political party of the Brotherhood – said in a statement that it has no intention of having a candidate stand for president. Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, the secretary general of the Freedom and Justice Party made the statement after rumors appeared that it was willing to nominate someone, the state-run MENA news agency reported. The Egyptian Committee of Party Affairs approved in June the formation of the party founded by the Muslim Brotherhood movement. The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the country's most organized political groups, has said it hopes to contest up to half of the parliamentary seats in the scheduled November elections. The People's Assembly and Shoura Council elections will be held at the same time over a period of three weeks. BM
