Presidential hopeful Bothaina Kamel said she does not regret failing to collect the necessary signatures for her presidential candidacy, thereby dropping out of the race.
"They were the best months of my life,” she said on her Facebook page, pointing to the period from her candidacy announcement until she pulled out.
"I knew from the first moment that it would be difficult,” she added. “But I was determined to defend the right of my sex to aspire to the highest posts.”
Kamel would have been the only female candidate in the race.
"The Egyptian woman has proven herself throughout history in the face of darkness, intolerance and ignorance," she wrote. "And I am but a small part of that heritage."
Revealing the difficulties she went through, Kamel said she was beaten, insulted, dishonored, arrested and faced death many times, but all that cannot be compared to those who gave their lives or lost their eyes for the revolution. “They were my source of power in times of despair and pain,” she wrote.
"Today, I say I am satisfied with what I did and happy with the signatures that I received — and still receive — from the sons and daughters of my country who stood beside me and gave me their love," she said.
"I thank them all,” she wrote, mentioning in particular an Al-Azhar scholar who told her that he always saw her standing in the middle of atrocious events.
