El-Beradei: If I run for president, I will run as an Independent.

Muslim Brotherhood: Uncertainty overshadows political parties’ decisions and the Brotherhood will not nominate any of its members for presidency.

 

 

Dr. Mohamed El-Beradei, former president of the International Atomic Energy Agency, opened the “auction” of Egypt’s presidential election, to be held in 2011. The man who was nominated by a number of opposition parties to be their representative in the upcoming elections outlined several conditions in his statement as a guarantee for fighting the presidential battle. Some representatives of the Egyptian opposition parties considered these conditions crippling. Some considered them a justification for not running in the elections. The first conditions put by the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who was accused of possessing dual nationality  was total unanimity on his nomination by the majority of Egyptians. El- Beradei asserted that his only nationality was Egyptian.

 

He called for the elimination of various constitutional and legal barriers restricting the right of the vast majority of Egyptian people to nominate themselves for the presidency. He also called for the need for a real and equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of partisan or personal considerations.

 

Under the constitutional amendment that was made in 2005, any person who wishes to run for the position of the president of Egypt has to be a member, for at least a year, and occupy a high ranking position in one of the official parties that has been founded for at least five years. Baradei considered these conditions phenomenal preferring to run as an Independent if in fact he chooses to run for presidency. This seems a difficult path to choose since, an independent candidate, must get the support of 250 members elected by the People’s Assembly, Shura Council and local councils, according to the numbers specified in article 76 of the Constitution, which was amended twice in two years. This further increases the difficulty of nominating El-Baradei.

 

Conditions put forward by Mohamed El-Baradei to accept his candidacy for the presidential elections are a repetition of the conditions announced by the Egyptian opposition during the last period. Those conditions focused largely on the need to amend articles 76 and 77 of the Constitution, as they are the biggest obstacles that prevent the nomination to such a high position. However, Baradei insists that if these are amended than Egypt is competent enough to be described as “the perfect democracy”.

 

 

Dr Essam El-Erian head of the political section of the Muslim Brotherhood movement stressed that there are more conditions necessary for the success of the presidential elections along with assurances of a number of elements. El-Erian highlighted that  there must be assurances and  guarantees of the integrity of the electoral process, a full judicial supervision, an international monitoring of the elections by the United Nations, the establishment of an independent national committee to oversee the process, and a new constitution that guarantees freedoms and human rights.

 

Along with these conditions, certain elements must be achieved such as ending the state of emergency, ensuring public liberties, including freedom of the press, establishing political parties, allowing peaceful demonstrations, abolishing special laws and courts and limiting the presidency period to two terms only.

 

Dr Mohamed Saad Katatni from the Muslim Brotherhood Parliamentary bloc and a member of the Brotherhood’s executive bureau asserted that the group has not yet issued an official statement concerning its stance on the elections and candidates. The matter is still being evaluated; however, the Muslim Brotherhood will not be nominating any of its members for presidency. It may however support any of the nominated candidates when the time comes.