Muslim Brotherhood candidate adopts new slogan

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CAIRO, April 24 (UPI) -- The Muslim Brotherhood won't use its conventional slogan, "Islam is the Solution," during the presidential campaign in Egypt, a campaign director said.

The Muslim Brotherhood ran under the long-standing slogan during 2010 elections and during the 2005 contest, when the group took 20 percent of the seats in the Egyptian Parliament by running its candidates as independents.

Khairat al-Shater, a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was blacklisted for a criminal record. The Muslim Brotherhood nominated FJP Chairman Mohamed Morsi as a backup candidate.

Morsi's campaign director Ahmed Abdel Aaty said the FJP candidate would campaign under the slogan "Renaissance is the will of the nation" instead of "Islam is the Solution," the Egyptian Independent news service reports.

During a weekend campaign event, however, Morsi said Islamic principles should guide Egypt as it moves forward politically after last year's revolution.

"Islamic reference in nation-building is the essential basis for the establishment of a fair system of governance," he said in a statement. "The people have valid fears and major, heavy concerns, and we must seek to alleviate their suffering."

Islamic political movements are dominating Egypt's post-revolutionary climate. Presidential elections are set of next month.