Ahmed Shafiq defends candidacy

Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has defended his entry into Egypt's presidential race. “Egypt is in a situation where it needs everyone's help. Whoever has the ability to help, has to move on to the frontlines. No one has the right to prevent anyone from practicing their political rights and expressing their rights freely,” he said. Shafiq has used “Egypt for everyone” as his campaign slogan The former prime minister said in an interview with Al-Ahram on Sunday that his work with former president Hosni Mubarak's regime did not mean he could not be trusted. Shafiq also said that he held administrative, political, economical and diplomatic skills that he believes he can use to establish a better Egypt. “I’m already reaching my quota as I have collected more than 50,000 votes of support yet there were some uncomfortable interventions and negative attitudes and I will officially present my documents soon on an appropriate date as per my judgment,” Shafiq said. "The situation in Egypt is not normal but this is natural...after the revolution things will calm down. You can say that this tension lasted for a long period after the revolution and caused big losses to the Egyptian economy." As for withdrawing confidence from the government he said: “The SCAF is still heading Egypt, which appointed the prime minister. Up until now no one knows if we will be using a parliamentary system or a presidential system or mixed. There is no constitution that determines this system. The dismissal of the government can be done only by SCAF, so no need for arguments.”