CAIRO: The Revolution’s Candidate campaign said in a statement on Saturday that it has asked Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sisi not to run for president, and to remain in his position as defense minister in order to maintain the prestige among Egyptians that he acquired when he backed the popular uprising on June 30.
The campaign said that if Sisi were to run in the upcoming presidential elections, the alliance of groups that backed the events of June 30 would be divided, and the act would promote the idea that the country was overtaken by a military coup.
In its statement, the campaign also mentioned previous statements that Sisi had made regarding the presidency, in which he said he would not run for president and was honored to simply support the will of Egyptians. Sisi had also stated that he did not want the Egyptian army to be accused of seeking power, the statement said.
The Revolution’s Candidate campaign asked all revolutionary and civil parties to unite behind a civilian revolutionary candidate who represents the January 25 Revolution.
The campaign also asked that all groups reach an agreement that the revolution will not achieve its goals unless the country is led by a civilian president who confronted corruption and tyranny during both the regimes of toppled president Hosni Mubarak and ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
