Suleiman Rules Out Presidency Bid, Shater Registers Candidacy
Egypt's former spy chief and vice president Omar Suleiman on Thursday ruled out running for the presidency in the upcoming election, ending weeks of speculation, as Khairat el-Shater, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, registered his candidacy.
Suleiman, who served as Hosni Mubarak's vice president before the strongman's overthrow last year, said in statement on Wednesday that he would sit out the election because getting the nomination was too difficult.
"I tried until yesterday morning to overcome the obstacles related to the current situation and the administrative, financial and organizational demands of candidacy, but I found that was beyond my capability," he said.
Candidates bidding for the presidency need 30,000 signatures from people or support of a party in parliament.
The election on May 23 and 24 will be the first presidential vote since the ouster of Mubarak in a popular uprising in February last year that led to military rule.
The military says it will hand power to the winner by the end of June. Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa is among the front runners.
Shater registered his candidacy for the country's presidency on Thursday as crowds of supporters cheered him on.
More than 1,000 of his backers chanted "the people want Shater as president" when the Islamist, until recently the Brotherhood's deputy leader, arrived at the election committee's headquarters in northern Cairo.
Last week's announcement of Shater's candidacy sent political shockwaves throughout the post-uprising country as people accused the Brotherhood of trying to monopolize power.
The Brotherhood, which dominates parliament and the senate through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), had pledged not to field a candidate for the May election.
But it reversed its position when the ruling military refused to sack the government and replace it with an FJP-led cabinet.
On Wednesday, a Muslim group that met with Shater said he promised to push for the implementation of Islamic law sharia if elected.
A campaign official said Shater shared the FJP's program, which calls for an Islamic and democratic state.
The election on May 23 and 24 will be the first presidential vote since the ouster of Mubarak in a popular uprising in February 2011 that led to military rule.
The winner will be announced in June, when the military is scheduled to hand over power.
Shater had been jailed under Mubarak, whose government regularly rounded up members of the then-banned Brotherhood, and was released after the dictator's ouster.
Source: Agence France Presse
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