ElBaradei came to divide Egypt: Shafiq

Fady Ashraf
2 Min Read
Shafiq acquitted in land corruption case still faces another trial (AFP File Photo)
South Cairo Criminal Court announced it would decide a verdict during its next hearing on 4 May in the case examining allegedly illicit gains by former regime figures through the Land Pilots Association. The defendants include Ahmed Shafiq, Nabil Shukri, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak (AFP Photo)
Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq
(AFP File Photo)

Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq said that former vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei was “on a mission to divide Egypt” on Wednesday night.

In a phone call with Studio El Balad talk show on Sada El Balad (The Country’s Echo) TV channel, he said that ElBaradei’s current visit to Russia is personal, but  may “serve other goals that he did not  wish to disclose.”

Shafiq said that he does not know if he would nominate himself for the presidency, and that such a decision would depend on “conditions and changes happening rapidly in Egypt.”

He accused Judge Tarek El Beshry’s committee (responsible for constitutional amendments of March 2011) of helping the Muslim Brotherhood to “reign over Egypt,” urging that the same course should not be taken during the current transitional phase.

Shafiq said he hoped that the parliamentary elections would be held after at least one year, to guarantee a “reasonable” result, and to “get rid of the Brotherhood’s influence on the poor and ignorant”.

Shafiq, a former aviation minister who was appointed prime minister by former president Hosni Mubarak on 28 January 2011, said that the current constitutional amendments might result in a ” new constitution”.

He thanked Arab nations, especially Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, for their recent support to Egypt.

Shafiq, who left the country following former president Morsi’s victory in 2012 presidential elections by a slim margin, refused to disclose the timing of his return to Egypt.

“If the Brotherhood incited chaos and killings during my reign if I were president, I would make them return to prisons,” he said.

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