Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa has voiced his confidence that Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will fulfill its pledge to hand over power to a civilian government on 30 June as promised.
Moussa rejected statements by reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei that no revolution has occurred in Egypt and that the SCAF has failed to put the country on the path to democracy. ElBaradei made the statements after withdrawing his presidential bid on Saturday.
From Beirut on Wednesday, Moussa told state-run news agency MENA that Egypt now enjoys broader freedoms and has held democratic parliamentary elections. He said that Islamists assuming power is not dangerous, noting that they secured the majority in the recent parliamentary polls democratically.
He said his presidential campaign will focus on rebuilding the state and implementing a social and economic development program.
He said that authority in the new republic should be decentralized, with positions all the way from head of state to local government being elected. He said officials should not exceed two terms in office.
Moussa said he was sorry that ElBaradei withdrew, but rejected the latter's doubts about the SCAF's intention to hand over power. He said the armed forces had refused to stand against Egypt's uprising, unlike the Libyan and Syrian militaries, instead protecting it.
