Gamal Mubarak, the younger son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has the right to run for president in the upcoming elections slated for September 2011, said Jehan Sadat the widow of the late president Anwar Sadat.
“Gamal has the right to stand as a candidate and if the people want to elect him they will and if not they will not,” Mrs. Sadat told Egyptian private Dream TV channel. “If elected, then this shouldn’t be considered as inheritance of power.”
Egyptian opposition forces believe that Mubarak is grooming his 46-year-old son to replace him. Both father and son denied these speculations.
Mrs. Sadat also said that former head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei is not suitable for Egypt’s highest executive post.
“Although he [ElBaradei] is a respectable figure, but he is not fit for the presidency,” Sadat said, adding that the former diplomat is not close to the Egyptian people, having spent most of his time abroad.
State-run newspapers have previously lashed out at ElBaradei, describing him as ‘parachuting’ on Egyptian politics because he spent the last three decades outside Egypt working for several UN agencies.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
