Presidential candidate Mohamed Selim El-Awa has denied plans of withdrawing from the upcoming elections for the benefit of Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.

The Wasat Party had said in a statement that it had assigned its chairman Aboul Ela Madi to act as a mediator between potential presidential candidates Aboul Fotouh and El-Awa, in order to convince one of them to accept the vice president’s position and withdraw from the presidential race. The Islamist party had previously announced that it plans to support El-Awa's presidential bid.

However, El-Awa, a lawyer and prominent Islamic thinker, has shot down reports that he received any calls from the party.

"I still plan to run for the office of president and do not intend to change my plans," El-Awa told Ahram Online. "Maybe they were planning to make Aboul-Fotouh withdraw instead."

Aboul-Fotouh is a prominent former member of the Muslim Brotherhood; his membership was terminated after he announced his plan to run for the presidency despite the group's decision not to field any candidates in the first post-Mubarak presidential elections.