Egypt’s Presidential Candidates Reject Return of Muslim Brotherhood

An election banner for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo (EPA)
An election banner for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo (EPA)
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Egypt’s Presidential Candidates Reject Return of Muslim Brotherhood

An election banner for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo (EPA)
An election banner for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo (EPA)

Days before the start of Egypt’s presidential elections, statements by the four candidates reflected identical positions summed up in their refusal to the return of the “banned” Muslim brotherhood group to political life.
The elections will be held inside Egypt next Sunday and for three days, while Egyptians abroad cast their ballot about a week ago.
Three candidates are running for the presidential race along with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, who is seeking a third term that will last until 2030.
The candidates include Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Abdel-Sanad Yamama, president of the Wafd Party, and Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party.
The future of the Muslim Brotherhood raises widespread controversy in Egypt. Authorities have classified it as a “terrorist organization” following the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsi, who belonged to the group, in 2013.
In August 2014, the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt ruled to dissolve the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the organization.
Advisor Mahmoud Fawzi, head of Sisi’s electoral campaign, said there was no return to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s political scene.
In a televised interview, he noted that talks about the return of the Brotherhood had popular, political and legal dimensions.
“In the popular dimension, we all see that the Egyptians expressed their view of the Brotherhood in the revolution of June 30, 2013, and therefore the people’s opinion is clear”, Fawzi stated.
Regarding the political dimension, he said: “Anyone, whose hands are stained with the blood of Egyptians, is not welcome,” stressing that the legal dimension was clear, as the Brotherhood is classified as a terrorist group.
The other three candidates have expressed similar positions.
In a televised interview, Zahran affirmed that he would reject any role for the Brotherhood in political life if he gets elected as president.
Yamama, for his part, noted that there would be no reconciliation with the “terrorist group”, pointing to the need to “fight the Brotherhood’s ideology with democracy.”
The same stance was confirmed by Omar, who ruled out any rapprochement with the Brotherhood,” adding that the group “gambled with the future of the Egyptian people.”



Italian MPs Protest at Egypt's Gaza Border Against War

 Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Italian MPs Protest at Egypt's Gaza Border Against War

 Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)

Italian parliamentarians protested on Sunday in front of Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.

"Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre," Cecilia Strada, an Italian member of the European parliament, told AFP.

The group, including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs, held signs reading "Stop genocide now", "End illegal occupation" and "Stop arming Israel".

"There should be a complete embargo on weapons to and from Israel and a stop to trade with illegal settlements," Strada said.

The protesters laid toys on the ground in solidarity with Gaza's children, who the UN warns face "a growing risk of starvation, illness and death" more than two months into a total Israeli aid blockade.

At least 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, according to the United Nations.

Israel has faced mounting pressure to lift its aid blockade, as UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

It resumed its offensive on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack on Israel.

On Saturday Israel announced an expanded military campaign, killing dozens of people in new strikes.

"We hear the bombs right now," Walter Massa, president of Italian non-profit organization Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana, told AFP near the crossing.

"The Israeli army continues to do what it believes is right in the face of an international community that does not intervene, and in Gaza, beyond the Rafah crossing border, people continue to die," he said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday said he was "alarmed" at the escalation and called for "a permanent ceasefire, now".

Italy's government on Saturday reiterated its calls to Israel to stop attacking Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: "Enough with the attacks."

"We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer," Tajani said.

Gaza's health ministry said Sunday 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,339.