Shafiq will not run against Al-Sisi in presidential elections

Former candidate for the Egyptian presidency Ahmed Shafiq has said that he would not run against General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in the upcoming presidential elections, describing the bloodshed of anti-coup protesters as “natural”.

Immediately after his defeat to President Morsi was announced in the last presidential race, Shafiq fled to the UAE with his family. He then led a defamation campaign against President Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood, and played a big role in the 3 July coup.

In his recent remarks, he said that he is not planning to run for election again if the Egyptian people do not ask him to. However, if they did, but Al-Sisi also decided to run for presidency, Shafiq insists that he would not run. Instead he would be one of Al-Sisi’s top supporters.

Shafiq claims that he won the previous election against Morsi and that time would prove this to be true. He also announced that he is planning to prosecute Morsi for defamation.

Commenting on the bloody dispersal of anti-coup protesters in the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square, Shafiq said that the deaths were a “natural issue”. He argued that it was an armed protest; therefore, it was necessary to be dealt with that way.

He said that the army “took enough time” before deciding to disperse the protest and said: “Shedding the people’s blood is better than allowing the state to be destroyed.”