Despite the statement Omar Suleiman issued to the media last Wednesday announcing that he will not run for president, his supporters have said that they still endorse the former vice president and will even try to convince him to change his mind and run in the presidential race.
A group of Omar Suleiman's supporters from Assiut governorate in Upper Egypt announced that they are going to hold a sit-in front of the former vice president’s house in Cairo in order to convince him to announce his candidacy.
Another group of Suleiman’s protesters announced that they will hold a march on Friday from the old police academy building in Salah Salem Street to the former head of intelligence’s house to show their support and to convince him not to leave the race - even though he has never officially announced that he would run.
"We are organising a million-man protest on Friday that will head to Lieutenant General Suleiman’s house," Samuel El-Ashy, the head of the Revolutionary Front to Support Omar Suleiman’s presidency told Ahram Online
"He is a fighter, a military commander who should not leave his soldiers in the battle like that," El-Ashy added.
"We call all revolutionary movements to join us in our protest in front of Suleiman’s house and to convince him to run for presidency."
For weeks now there have been rumours and contradicting news reports about Omar Suleiman’s presidential candidacy. Last Wednesday, Suleiman issued a statement that was distributed to the local and foreign media announcing that he will not run for president.
"I tried until last Tuesday morning to overcome the obstacles of the current situation in Egypt and the presidential candidacy’s conditions, which I cannot meet," the former vice president revealed in the statement.
When Ahram Online asked Samuel El-Ashy about the statement, he answered: "This is not a true statement. We will not believe the news until we hear it from the Lieutenant General himself."
