Shafik denies receiving UAE offer to return to Egypt

Former Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik has not received an Emirati offer which would allow him to return to Cairo if he does not contest President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during next year’s election, his party said yesterday.

The Egyptian Patriotic Movement’s deputy chairman, Major General Raouf El Sayed Ali, said in a statement that “the party is currently organising a news conference to be held this month with the aim of answering all the questions and concerns raised over the past few months.”

“The party operates in accordance with the constitution and the institutional law,” he stressed.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed recently revealed reports about an offer submitted to Al-Sisi by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which stipulates that Shafik “would not run for next year’s presidential elections in return for his return to Egypt without being convicted of any new charges.”

Read: As presidential elections loom Sisi moves to control judiciary

Shafik, who has been residing in the UAE since 2013, has never revealed details of the Emirati offer; however he often tweets about the various events in Egypt.

Al-Sisi has asked Abu Dhabi to warn Shafik “not to comment on Egypt’s events or to criticise the government,” according to the agency.

In recent months, Shafik criticised the current administration and warned of the attempts to amend the constitution to extend Al-Sisi’s term in office. He also slammed the government’s decision to transfer two Red Sea Islands to Saudi Arabia.

The ex-presidential candidate has been facing a violent media campaign following his announcement to run in the upcoming presidential elections. Social media activists say that Shafik’s health “would not qualify him to run a country”.