Mohamed Morsy, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, on Wednesday promised that under his leadership Egypt would be a “modern, civil, democratic state that respects it citizens.”
He said that the country “will not regress to dictatorship.”
In a press conference at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Cairo, Morsy refuted claims that his election would undermine tourism and that the Brotherhood intends to sell the Suez Canal, as well as rumors concerning his health.
Recently, Morsy and his competitor in the presidential runoff, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, have escalated their attacks against each other. Shafiq has claimed that the Brotherhood plans to sell the Suez Canal, a major source of national income, to fund their Renaissance Project.
Morsy accused the media of propagating such rumors, but he vowed to protect media freedom.
“No newspaper or TV channel would be closed under my rule as long as the law and the profession’s ethical code are respected,” he said.
Morsy reiterated an earlier pledge to make the executive branch representative of all Egyptians and to form an inclusive coalition government in consultation with Parliament. He said that the prime minister of his cabinet would not come from the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.
Morsy also vowed to restore security and stability to the country, lower taxes, create 700,000 job opportunities per year, provide better care for people with special needs, quadruple government health expenditures, improve education and protect women’s rights.
There have been attempts to form a presidential council made up of Morsy and presidential candidates who lost in the first round, including Hamdeen Sabbahi and Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, but Morsy has rejected this suggestion.
