A popular campaign supporting military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi for president has lauded requests by some political groups asking Tantawi to run in the election as a “patriotic move.”
In a statement on Monday, the campaign urged different nationalist groups to stand by Tantawi and to continue pressuring him to run in the elections slated for 23 and 24 May.
The statement praised the discernment of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which it said helped avoid plots against the country.
“We plead to you not to leave us as prey to political decline that will be caused by inexperienced, religiously oriented groups, and those who do not keep their promises,” the statement said, addressing Tantawi.
Reports of requests for Tantawi to run in the election followed the Muslim Brotherhood’s declaration on Saturday that its deputy supreme guide, Khairat al-Shater, will be its presidential nominee.
Shater’s candidacy further stoked fears from other political groups that the Brotherhood might be seeking to fully dominate political life in Egypt, given its occupation of a majority of seats in Parliament and the constituent assembly, and its efforts to withdraw confidence from the current cabinet of Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri.
