As Race Takes Shape, Former Foreign Minister Says a Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Victory Could Imperil Democracy

CAIRO—The presumed front-runner in Egypt´s newly winnowed presidential race cast himself as the last bulwark against a surge of Islamist power, as remaining candidates rushed to define themselves in their bids to lead the country´s first post-revolutionary government.

Former Egyptian foreign minister Amr Moussa, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal a day after the country´s election commission dismissed 10 candidates from the race, warned that if the Muslim Brotherhood´s candidate wins the presidency as well as its party dominating Parliament, it could yield a one-party system that would brook "no serious debate" in public.

Mr. Moussa has become one of three likely top contenders in a May 23 presidential contest. As outrage over the court´s decision set in on Wednesday, a narrowed field of less controversial, less charismatic candidates grappled to seize the momentum and enthusiasm left by their more divisive counterparts.

Mr. Moussa now faces a difficult and unpredictable battle against the two other major candidates who emerged from the aftermath of the election commission´s decision: Mohammed Morsi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood´s political party, who joined the race at the last moment, when it became clear the group´s preferred candidate would likely be disqualified, and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who broke with the Brotherhood months ago and may represent a moderate Islamist choice.

In a news conference on Wednesday, excluded Brotherhood candidate Khairat Al Shater sought to channel voter enthusiasm for his aborted candidacy into Mr. Morsi, a U.S.-educated engineer whom the Brotherhood tapped to bid for the presidency because of Mr. Shater´s disqualification over a 2006 fraud conviction.

Mr. Shater told reporters that while he rejected the election commission´s decision to exclude him, calling it a "crime," he would anoint Mr. Morsi to carry on his political platform.

The decision, however, demonstrated that the ruling council of generals who appointed the commission are "not serious about transferring power to civilians," Mr. Shater said. He called on his followers to protest the military´s continued rule at a rally in Cairo´s Tahrir Square on Friday.

Mr. Shater is a rare towering figure within the Brotherhood. His charismatic personality, deep financial pockets and close ties to the organization´s powerful conservative old guard give him a political heft Mr. Morsi could struggle to match as he vies for the presidency.

"The question is will the Muslim Brotherhood give full support institutionally, politically, financially to Morsi as they would have for Shater?" said a senior campaign strategist for a rival presidential candidate. "I don´t know yet."

The commission pushed out Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, a lawyer turned populist Islamist preacher, because his late mother was an American citizen—a breach of Egyptian laws on the nationality of presidential candidates´ parents and spouses.

It also decided to exclude Omar Suleiman, a former Egyptian spy chief and confidant of ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Suleiman´s campaign didn´t gather enough nominating signatures in the required number of Egyptian governorates.

Among Western diplomats, Christians and Egypt´s more secular liberals, the exclusions of the two most polarizing and controversial candidates in the election have been greeted with a sigh of relief. U.S. officials have historically warmer relations with Messrs. Moussa, Aboul Fatouh and Morsi, though all three pose challenges to U.S. relations as well.

Mr. Suleiman´s removal could strengthen Mr. Moussa since Mr. Suleiman´s support base was widely believed to draw from a similar pool of secular-leaning voters.

Unlike the rest of the presidential field, both men carry a diplomatic gravitas that cast them as Western-looking counterweights to Islamist candidates—an aspect Mr. Moussa sought to portray on Wednesday as a savvy "statesmanship."

"This [job] needs a civil role, needs people who understand what to do when it comes to the economy, when it comes to laws, when it comes to corruption, when it comes to security, when it comes to the regional relations," said Mr. Moussa.

Egypt´s emerging political system will "require" a non-Islamist president who "would cooperate and ask other people to cooperate with him, rather than have only one current and one policy," he said.

Mr. Moussa warned that the Muslim Brotherhood controlling the legislature and the executive could return the country to the kind of autocratic rule that corrupted the ousted regime.

"It would be very destructive," he said. "The [former ruling party] should not be replaced with a different color and a different hat."

He noted that the Brotherhood had initially promised not to run a presidential candidate, partly from the same concern.

Mr. Moussa took pains in his interview to express the importance of Egypt´s relationship with the U.S.—historically Egypt´s strongest security partner. He was less enthusiastic about Egypt´s relationship with Israel, a country he has built his career on criticizing.

He even proffered the idea of pursuing an Egyptian "virtual membership" in the European Union; Egypt wouldn´t seek to join the bloc, but would use its membership requirements as a guide to administrative and economic overhauls, he said.

Mr. Moussa has assiduously courted Coptic Christian voters and appears to be the candidate of choice for Egypt´s roughly 10% Coptic minority.

"I am relieved at what took place [Tuesday] because the fundamentalists are out," said Youssuf Sidhom, the editor of the Coptic Christian daily newspaper Al Watani. "They never cease assuring us they care for Copts and equality, but there always lies a vast area of historical mistrust. With the Muslim Brotherhood, you never know. They easily change their position. They easily lie to Egyptians." Despite those doubts, Mr. Sidhom described Mr. Morsi as a decent man. —Sharaf Al Hourani contributed to this article. (Copyright © Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 04/19/12)