Islamist presidential hopeful Mohamed Selim al-Awa on Wednesday accused a “rival” of offering money for signatures in support of him to tarnish his reputation ahead of the presidential election.
In a phone interview on the privately owned Dream TV channel, Awa said that his rival, who he refused to name, campaigned for him in and around Cairo in cars with loudspeakers and offered LE50 for people to sign in support of his candidacy.
Awa added that he filed a report against the rival to the attorney general and the Presidential Elections Commission.
“I know nothing about those cars. One of the rival hopefuls rented them to go to Roxy Square [in Heliopolis] and others. They were offering LE50 for signatures for me,” he said.
“This is an election bribe that I cannot accept. Its purpose is to smear my reputation,” he said, stressing that he didn’t ask anyone to do it and that he will not use the signatures.
Awa said he knows who was behind the bribery, but “I will not announce his name until after the end of the election. If he wins, I will announce it. If not, I will not.
“There is much chaos at the notary regarding official signatures of support. This is one of the shortcomings of the [Presidential Elections] Commission,” he said.
In addition, Luxor’s public prosecutor is conducting an investigation into accusations that notary employees forged signatures for presidential hopeful Amr Moussa.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
