Ex-Mubarak premier sides with revolution in bid for presidency

EGYPTIAN presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq paid tribute yesterday to the “glorious revolution” that toppled Hosni Mubarak, a dramatic turnaround for the former regime official who fought his way into the runoff elections by appealing to public disenchantment with last year’s uprising.

Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, vowed there would be no “recreation of the old regime” as he prepared to face off against Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in a run-off on 16 and 17 June.

“I am fed up with being labelled ‘old regime,’ ” Shafiq said at a hastily organised news conference. “This talk is no longer valid after seven million people voted for me.” When pressed on the issue, he said: “All Egyptians are part of the old regime. Why do you keep saying the same thing over and over again?”

Shafiq and Morsi were the top vote-getters after a two-day election last Wednesday and Thursday, which none of the 13 candidates could win outright. Now, both must appeal to the roughly 50 per cent of voters who cast ballots for someone else.

Shafiq appeared to use the news conference to try to cast off his image as an anti-revolution candidate who spoke disparagingly about the youth groups that engineered the anti-Mubarak uprising.

A former air force commander and a personal friend of Mubarak’s, Shafiq was booted out of office by a wave of street protests shortly after Mubarak stepped down on 11 February last year.

The 15 months since the ousting of Mubarak have seen a surge in crime, a faltering economy and seemingly endless protests, strikes and sit-ins. The disorder has fed disenchantment with the revolutionary groups, and may have worked to Shafiq’s advantage.

However, ex-officer Shafiq is also associated with Egypt’s military leadership. The generals who took over from Mubarak, say critics, have mismanaged the transitional period and failed to reform corrupt institutions or to provide effective security.

Furthermore, they are blamed for the death of more than 100 protesters, torturing detainees and trying before military tribunals at least 12,000 civilians.

“I pledge to every Egyptian that there will be no turning back and no recreation of the old regime,” said Shafiq. “I pay tribute to this glorious revolution and pledge to be faithful to its call for justice and freedom.”

Shafiq also tried to enlist the support of youth groups, singling out the large associations of soccer fans known as “ultras” and 6 April, both of which played a key role in the uprising.

His outreach was swiftly rejected by 6 April, whose spokesman Ahmed Maher told a news conference that his group would never talk to the former prime minister, who was considered to be a pillar of the Mubarak regime.

Shafiq paid special tribute to Hamdeen Sabahi, a socialist and champion of the poor who finished in third place. He held out the possibility of naming him as his deputy if elected president.

Morsi’s Brotherhood, meanwhile, has called for a united political front to “deal with the challenges facing the nation” – a thinly veiled attempt to enlist support for its candidate.