Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan has said members who support the presidential bid of Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, a former senior leader in the group, will be expelled.

In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher-Misr television channel on Saturday evening, Ghozlan said: "The group is looking for an appropriate candidate for the position [of president]. Once we determine who that will be, Brotherhood members will not be allowed to support any other candidate.

“We’ve already dismissed a few members for supporting Abul-Fotouh’s presidential campaign,” he said. “The decision not to support him was an institutional one. Therefore, anyone who does so will be dismissed from the group immediately, since we don’t apply double standards."

After the January 25 Revolution, the Brotherhood announced that it would compete in parliamentary elections but would not nominate a member the presidency.

Abul-Fotouh announced his presidential candidacy in spring 2011 and was expelled along with a number of his supporters.

On Sunday, Abul-Fotouh, a moderate Islamist, reportedly obtained his official presidential nomination papers.

The first round of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak presidential poll has been slated for 23 and 24 May.