BEIRUT: Egyptian presidential candidate and former senior Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel-Moneim Abul Futuh said Sunday Egypt’s parliament would review Camp David Accords along with all international treaties, and that if elected he would not seek to impose Islamic law in the country.In Beirut to take part in a U.N. conference, Abul Futuh told The Daily Star Egyptian parliamentarians have already said they would review all treaties and that “if the [parliament] finds that the [Camp David] agreement serves the interests of Egypt, then it will remain. If not, parliament will decide what to do.”

The Camp David Accords, signed in 1978, are the basis for the peace between Egypt and Israel.

“We respect all international agreements on the condition that they serve the interests of Egypt ... If parliament decides that any international agreement does not meet the interests of Egypt and should be amended ... or abrogated, I will help parliament in doing this,” he said. “In international law, there is no eternal agreement.”

With polls set for June, the Egyptian presidential race has tightened in the past few days as ex-U.N. nuclear body head Mohamed ElBaradei withdrew his candidacy in protest Saturday, saying the country’s military rulers – in power since Hosni Mubarak’s fall last February – are governing “as if no revolution took place and no regime has fallen.”

This leaves Abul Futuh among a small group of frontrunners, including ex-Arab League chief Amr Moussa and Al-Ghad party chairman Ayman Nour. A longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abul Futuh was expelled from the organization last summer after he announced his presidential bid – the Brotherhood has said it will not put forward a candidate for the post.

Banned for most of the last century in Egypt, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is now considered to be the best organized party on the new Egyptian political scene and claims to have secured over 40 percent of lower house seats.

Unlike ElBaradei and many protesters who object to the military’s ongoing rule, Abul Futuh said he is not concerned that the military will hold on to power after the presidential elections, saying it is merely managing the transition period.

“The Egyptian people will not allow anyone to change the path of the revolution in achieving democracy and rooting out corruption and tyranny,” he said. “There is no way the military council will remain [in power] and it does not want to do so, nor can it.” He stressed that he is not a Brotherhood candidate, rather “an independent who represents all Egyptians and ... political factions.”

But Egyptian voters are not afraid of, and should not fear, Islamists, he said. Together with the Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafist al-Nour party’s wins are likely to generate a parliament made up of more than 60 percent Islamist candidates. Abul Futuh said these results “indicate Egyptian voters admire Islamists.”

As a Brotherhood member, Abul Futuh was openly critical of some of its policies, including a model platform proposed by the party several years ago that would have banned women and non-Muslims from the country’s presidency.

He told The Daily Star Sunday that he did not support the imposition of Islam on others. “I stress that Islamists in Egypt are here to serve their people, and not to impose anything on them. I would not accept the interference of any group, including Islamists, on the individual freedoms of people, [whether this is in regards to] their clothes, food, drinks, opinions or beliefs.”

Addressing recent bouts of violence toward Coptic Christians and women during protests against continued military rule, Abul Futuh said that “the second republic which we are founding depends on citizenship. Nobody should be marginalized. Everybody will have their rights, regardless of sex, color, ethnicity or gender ...Women and minorities such as our Christian brothers will not be treated unfairly. Their rights will be preserved in the law.” Abul Futuh’s platform includes launching “an Egyptian renaissance” which would start with “education, scientific research, and health care.” Also on tap is a “national professional army which does not meddle in politics, but whose only role is protecting the nation.”

“When the revolution broke out on Jan. 25, [2011], its slogan was ‘bread, freedom, dignity, and social justice,’ he said, recalling the demands of the Tahrir Square protesters. “God willing, we will definitely achieve the demands of the revolution.”