Presidential hopeful and accused former regime member Mortada Mansour announced Saturday that he is running for president in order to carry Egypt out of the critical transition phase.
Mansour is currently on trial for orchestrating “Battle of the Camel,” when regime officials allegedly paid a contingent of horse and stable workers to attack the protesters in Tahrir square while they were calling for former President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
Although the people have made the greatest revolution in history, Egypt is currently witnessing a state of moral chaos, rather than security chaos, Mansour said.
Mansour said in a campaign rally at al-Rowad Club in the 10th of Ramadan City Friday that he had nothing to do with the Battle of Camel and denied having been a friend of Mubarak. He said his name had been dragged into the Battle of Camel case by his rivals as a way for them to settle old scores with him.
Mansour said that former Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman's presidential candidacy enriches the nation, because he was clean of corruption during his tenure. He said that the military council stands at equal distance from all candidates, allowing the people to decide in the end.
He defended fellow candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, saying he had the right to run the presidential race as his mother's dual nationality should not represent the slightest problem in this regard.
Mansour criticized the Muslim Brotherhood's nomination of Khairat al-Shater, stressing that the Brotherhood's situation was vague and that he feared the people would revolt against them in case they obtained all top positions.
He called for drafting a constitution that regulates relations between the three powers of state and specifies the role of each, ensures the achievement of social justice as the revolution demanded and meets the aspirations of all the classes of the Egyptian people.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
