Presidential candidate and former deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat Al-Shater stated that his candidacy is based on solid legal grounds after charges of money laundering and belonging to an outlawed group against him were dropped. He added that he no longer needs to clear his name now.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel, Al-Shater said that the brotherhood’s popularity on the Egyptian street will not drop, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. He stressed the brotherhood’s right to present itself as “a political alternative” especially after it won a majority supporting Islamic rule.

He refused to talk about applying Islamic Shari’a saying that it is “too early” to do that.

Al-Shater added that he is not investing the brotherhood’s money as many think. “My personal financial statement which I presented to the Higher Presidential Elections Committee will reveal I am not a billionaire as many claim,” Al-Shater said.