Amr Moussa declared on Tuesday that he was the "people's candidate" for president and that he does not believe the president will be selected as the result of a deal with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
CNN Arabic quoted a number of politicians and activists late last month as saying they suspected the existence of a deal between Islamist movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, and the SCAF, whereby they would support a particular candidate agreed upon by both parties. The suspected deal would ensure the safe exit of SCAF members after power is handed over to a civilian president.
Moussa made the statement during his tour in Fayoum Governorate, which began at Nasser Mosque where he prayed and was greeted by dozens of residents. He then headed to his new campaign headquarters, where he was received by supporters who played the national anthem.
Moussa went on to say that the new ruling system should be a mixed one, combining both the presidential and parliamentary systems. He explained that "the mission of the next president, government, Parliament and other state institutions is to rebuild Egypt, and rapidly respond to the revolution’s demands of freedom, social justice and human dignity."
"If I win, and with the people’s confidence in me, I will organize a workshop that will immediately deal with the problems of education, health care and the economy, and it will include experts such as Dr. Ahmed Zewail and other Egyptian scientists from abroad and locally," he added.
He stressed "the need to transfer power to an elected president,” warning of "the risk of disabling the path of democratic transformation."
Moussa attributed the former regime's corruption to “law tailors” who served businessmen, mixing power and wealth, and who "were one of the reasons behind the deepening economic crisis and the increasing suffering of the people, which pushed them to topple the regime in one of the greatest revolutions in history."
Moussa said democracy ensures the protection of freedoms, the right to difference of opinion, separation of powers, freedom of the press and free labor unions.
“Society is concerned with the political process but is more concerned with economic and social issues," he concluded.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
