Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal said he will not permit former International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei, who is also a potential presidential candidate, to practice politics inside universities.
At a students’ conference in Alexandria, Helal was answering a question about whether he would allow ElBaradei to hold seminars with university professors and students inside campuses.
The minister said that ElBaradei has no right to practice politics and partisan work inside universities, arguing that he would only be welcomed as an academic. “We won’t allow campuses to turn into battlefields,” Helal said.
Helal stressed that he is not against students’ engagement in politics, but said that this should happen without external intervention and according to university regulations.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
