Mohamed Fawzy Eissa, the Democratic Generation Party’s presidential candidate, has officially withdrawn from the race in favor of Amr Moussa. The first round of the vote will take place on 23 and 24 May.
At a joint press conference with Moussa, Eissa told state-run MENA news service that he withdrew to improve the chances for the presidential candidate who would take into account the interests of the whole society and to avoid splitting votes.
Only 11 candidates remain in the race after Abdallah al-Ashaal, the Salafi Asala Party’s candidate, withdrew to support Mohamed Morsy, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, on Saturday.
Eissa said that he and Moussa agreed on the formation of a presidential council, which the latter would head as he is the oldest and most experienced, while the other members would be his advisers.
Eissa, a university professor born in 1945, declined to be vice president and said he would prefer to be an adviser, provided that he does not get paid for it, as he put it.
