| The former Brotherhood member has been hailed for his moderate views |
| By Hana Zuhair |
| Born in Old Cairo to a family originally from the Gharbeyya governorate, 61-year-old Abdel Moneim Abolfotoh has quite an impressive political and professional history. He is one of the staunchest advocates of the January 25 Revolution and has participated in several protests. His son, Huzaifa, was injured twice during the 18-day uprising.Abolfotoh earned a degree in medicine with highest honors from Cairo University in 1976. He met his wife, Aliya Mahmoud Khalil — who is currently a gynecologist — while he was a medical student and together the couple have raised six children (three girls and three boys). Abolfotoh later completed a bachelor’s degree in law from Cairo University, while serving a prison sentence between 1996 to 2001. In total, Abolfotoh was put in prison three times for his involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood. Marriage wasn’t the only thing he found during his college years; Abolfotoh started his political career while studying as well. He was president of the student union at Qasr El-Aini’s College of Medicine in 1973, then became president of the Cairo University student union in 1975, while at the same time serving as the Secretary of the Media Committee for all Egyptian universities. Abolfotoh came into center stage after his 1975 debate with former President Anwar El Sadat, during which the young activist bluntly told the president that he was surrounded by hypocrites and criticized Sadat’s repressive crackdowns on Islamist movements, political activity and demonstrations. Abolfotoh was consequently disqualified from working at the university after graduation. Evidently becoming more liberal over the years, Abolfotoh has gained a positive reputation for his moderate views on Islam and implementing Shariah. As a practicing physician, he has participated extensively in relief work at both the national and international levels, organizing relief missions to Duwaiqa, Aswan, Gaza, Libya, Lebanon and Somalia as the secretary general of the Arab Medical Union since 2004. Abolfotoh’s decades-long involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood started in the early 1970s. As president of the student union, Abolfotoh worked with Essam Al Erian (currently the Vice President of the Freedom and Justice party) and Ibrahim El Zafarany (former Brotherhood Shura Council member) to introduce different small Islamic organizations into the Muslim Brotherhood. He was a leading member in the Guidance Office of the Muslim Brotherhood from 1987 to 2009, and was particularly known for his liberal views. It was widely rumored that he left the guidance office in 2009 allegedly due to an internal mini-coup by stricter members who were against the moderate ideology. Abolfotoh participated in the protest held at the Supreme Court on January 25, 2011, before the masses marched into Tahrir. He also utilized his position as Secretary General of the Arab Medical Union to help set up field hospitals in the square as violence erupted. Abolfotoh’s announcement in 2011 that he would run for presidency heralded his immediate suspension from the Muslim Brotherhood, which at the time had claimed they would not field any of their members for the top job. Public opinion at the time wrote off this move as the Brotherhood’s way of fielding one of their own without going back on their word. The Brotherhood then ruled to expel members who publicly supported Abolfotoh. But the group’s subsequent nomination of Khairat El Shater in early April 2012 seemed to confirm detractors’ accusations of the group as shape shifters. On April 2, Abolfotoh launched his presidential campaign at a star-studded event at Al Azhar Park, where prominent public figures attended and announced their endorsement of the candidate. TV hosts Hamdi Qandil and Dina Abdel Rahman, actress Athar el Hakim as well as political science professor Mona Makram Ebeid (who recently pulled out of the Constitution-writing constituent assembly) and Abu Ila Mady, the founder and president of the Wasat Party, all attended the event and announced their support for Abolfotoh. Abolfotoh’s campaign slogan is “Strong Egypt,” a goal he hopes to achieve through 11 ambitious mega projects that will see the nation become self-sufficient in grain agriculture, more development and investment along the Suez Canal, as well as a program to improve the integration of individuals with disabilities into the workforce and society. His platform also focuses on developing the health and education sectors in the country and proposes that the funding for these sectors be derived from restructuring the national budget to included special funds and military finances, and wiping out corruption. The political heavyweight’s call for a unified budget will undoubtedly be considered a threat to the military rulers, who only broke their silence about their strong businesses in Egypt after relentless questioning by activists and the media. |
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