Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is to field its deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election, the group's party and supreme guide said on Saturday.
"The parliamentary bloc of the Freedom and Justice Party will nominate Khairat al-Shater as a candidate for the presidency," the FJP said on its Facebook page.
The Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, confirmed Shater's nomination in a news conference and read out a brief statement from Shater, who was not present.
"After it was decided to field my name in the presidential elections, I can only accept the decision of the Brotherhood. I will therefore resign from my position as deputy chairman," Shater's statement said.
The Muslim Brotherhood had repeatedly said it would not put forward a member for the elections, but its leadership insists that Shater's nomination is not an about turn, but a necessary measure in the face of developments.
"There is a real threat to the revolution and to the democratic process," said the Brotherhood's secretary general, Mahmud Hussein.
The nomination is likely to intensify a stand-off with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power when president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011.
The Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, has been pressuring the military to sack the cabinet -- which it accuses of stalling the revolution -- and to appoint an FJP-led government.
But the SCAF has stood by the cabinet and its head Kamal Ganzouri, lashing out at the Islamists over their demand.
Hussein said their demand to sack the government had been ignored, and said there had been "threats to dissolve the parliament" which it dominates.
He said the fact that "one or more members of the former regime" are planning to run for the country's top job is proof that there is a plan to bring back the old regime.
FJP head Mohammed Moursi said the decision to field a candidate "is not a change of principles."
"Egypt now needs a candidate from among us who can take on the responsibility," he told reporters.
"Egypt has problems that have not been solved," Moursi said, listing fuel shortages, security problems, traffic and petrol shortages.
"All this has pushed us towards the executive authority," he said.
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