ROME: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry said Friday he saw “no reason” why the country’s ex-premier Ahmed Shafiq should not run for president.
Shafiq announced on Wednesday that he plans to compete for the post of president in his homeland at next year’s election and was preparing to return to Cairo in the coming days.
Just hours after his announcement, however, Shafiq said the United Arab Emirates had barred him from leaving the country.
Shafiq’s candidacy could see him stand against President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who has yet to officially declare his candidacy but looks all but certain to run in and dominate the election next year.
Shoukry suggested there may be legal issues which prevent Shafiq from running in the 2018 vote, but said that if they had been resolved there was nothing to stop him throwing his hat in the ring.
“I see no reason why he should not run,” he said at a summit on the Mediterranean in Rome.
“I say that as a layman. I know he had some issues with the judiciary, I’m not sure if they have been resolved, but in principle he is free to represent himself to the electorate.
“As in any society, it’s up to the electorate to decide.”
Shafiq, who was put on trial in absentia on corruption charges after narrowly losing the 2012 election to former Islamist president Muhammad Mursi, has emerged as a critic and possible contender to Sissi in the past two years.
The former prime minister was acquitted, and his lawyer had said he would be free to return, but it is thought that he fears another case might be brought against him.
Shoukry was possibly alluding to prosecution investigations that have not been referred to trial.
Sissi, a former army chief elected as president in 2014 less than a year after overthrowing Mursi, lauded his experience in the military and as an aviation minister under former president Hosni Mubarak.
Shafiq could represent one of the few candidates who can come close to challenging Sissi.
Egypt FM sees ‘no reason’ why Shafiq should not run for president
Egypt FM sees ‘no reason’ why Shafiq should not run for president
Iran unrest persists, top judge warns protesters
- Demonstrations sparked by soaring inflation
- Western provinces worst affected
DUBAI: Iran’s top judge warned protesters on Wednesday there would be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic,” while accusing Israel and the US of pursuing hybrid methods to disrupt the country.
The current protests, the biggest wave of dissent in three years, began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers condemning the currency’s free fall.
Unrest has since spread nationwide amid deepening distress over economic hardships, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, and curbs on political and social freedoms.
“Following announcements by Israel and the US president, there is no excuse for those coming to the streets for riots and unrest, chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary, was quoted as saying by state media.
“From now on, there will be no leniency for whoever helps the enemy against the Islamic Republic and the calm of the people,” Ejei said.
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured.
Iran’s western provinces have witnessed the most violent protests.
“During the funeral of two people in Malekshahi on Tuesday, a number of attendees began chanting harsh, anti-system slogans,” said Iran’s Fars, news agency.
After the funeral, Fars said, “about 100 mourners went into the city and trashed three banks ... Some started shooting at the police trying to disperse them.”
The semi-official Mehr news agency said protesters stormed a food store and emptied bags of rice, which has been affected by galloping inflation that has made ordinary staples increasingly unaffordable for many Iranians.
