Egyptians went to polls on Wednesday morning to elect their new president, the first after the fall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak last year. The following is a brief introduction to the most popular five out of the 12 candidates competing for presidency.

Amr Moussa

Amr Moussa, 76, is the oldest and most popular among the candidates. He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Cairo University. He served as the deputy permanent representative and permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations and Egyptian ambassador to India. He was Egypt's foreign minister from 1991 to 2001 and then secretary general of the Arab League from 2001 to 2011.

Moussa was regarded as linked to the Mubarak regime. But his diplomatic experience will win him many voters. He seeks one term of presidency. He vows to fight poverty, unemployment and illiteracy and decentralize the government. He is endorsed by the liberal Wafd Party. His electoral slogan is "ready for challenge." He has taken the lead in many recent polls about the candidates.

Abul Fotouh

Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotouh was born in 1951 in Cairo and obtained the Bachelor's degree in medicine at Cairo University. He was secretary general of the Medical Association of Egypt. He has been the secretary general of Arab Doctors Union since 2004. He was a member of Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau from 1987 to 2009, but was expelled from the group last year after declaring his intention to run for the president.

Abul Fotouh, who claimed himself as a moderate Islamist, says he could unite some leftists and liberals. He vows to increase budgets for education and health care, with the slogan of "strong Egypt." But some analysts say the targets are unrealistic given the financial conditions. He has support from the Salafist Nour Party, the radical Islamic Group and Islamist Wasat Party.

Mohamed Morsi

Mohamed Morsi, chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party, is the candidate of Muslim Brotherhood. He was born in Sharqia in 1951 and received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering from Cairo University. He obtained a doctorate in the same field from the University of Southern California. He was a member of parliament from 2000 to 2005. and then a member of Muslim Brotherhood's guidance bureau.

He joined the presidential race in the last moment and replaced MB deputy chairman Khairate al-Shater who was disqualified from running in the race. He affirms the "renaissance project" which he said is not a dream but an applicable plan. The main pillars of his project upon a moderate understanding of Islamic law, are to build a political system, develop Egypt's economy and achieve comprehensive human development.

Ahmed Shafiq

Ahmed Shafiq was born in 1941 and graduated from the Egyptian Air Force Academy. He was commander of air force from 1996 and 2002 and aviation minister from 2002 to 2011. He served the post of prime minister for about one month after the mass protests against Mubarak broke out in late January 2011.

Under his electoral slogan "acts not words," he pledges to create constant security, comprehensive justice and balanced development in the middle class. He was once disqualified from the presidential race due to his link to the Mubarak regime, but was reinstated after an appeal.

Hamdeen Sabahi

Hamdeen Sabahi was born in 1954 in Kafar El Sheikh. As a journalist, he joined the Nasserist party and later founded the Karama Party. Sabahi, a leftist candidate and former member of parliament during Mubarak era, focused his program on three basic elements under the slogan "one of us", namely, freedom guaranteed by democracy, social justice achieved by comprehensive development and human dignity protected by national independence.

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