ElBaradei says to cancel Egypt election

One of Egypt's most prominent opposition figures has stated that the country's yet-unfinished recent presidential elections must be cancelled. Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters at Cairo airport that the real battle was “writing Egypt’s new constitution and canceling the presidential elections, because the legitimacy of one of the candidates is highly doubtful,” referring to presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was Mubarak’s last prime minister. ElBaradei, a one-time presidential hopeful arrived in Egypt from Vienna late Tuesday. Shafiq is challenging the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi in the election run-off, scheduled on June 16 and 17. Egyptian expatriates have already started to cast their ballots in the run-off. Egypt’s daily al-Masry al-Youm quoted ElBaradei as saying: “Egyptians have been driven to demonstrate in squares across the country because the goals of the January 25 revolution have not been achieved.” The revolutionary figure did not vote in the Egyptian elections as he had left the country a few days before the voting.   ElBaradei also set doubts over the legitimacy of parliament and said that he was heading to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square to “support the protesters”. The former nuclear watchdog chief said that he would hold a meeting with the revolutionary youth as the “revolution did not achieve any of its goals, including bread, freedom and social justice,” the report by al-Masry al-Youm said. Thousands of Egyptians poured into Tahrir Square on Tuesday to reclaim a revolt they say has been hijacked after Mubarak was jailed for life and his top security officials freed in a sign they say his old guard is still in charge. Although Mubarak was imprisoned on Saturday over the killing of protesters, he escaped the death penalty and senior officers tried with him were acquitted for lack of evidence, so many now believe the deposed leader could win an appeal. “No to Morsi, no to Shafiq, the revolution is half-way through,” read a placard held up by one youth in Tahrir Square, calling for a boycott of the vote. The vote is the final step before the army, which took charge when Mubarak was driven out, formally hands over to a new president by July 1. That marks the end of a transition marred by protests, political bickering and sporadic bloodshed. Although the generals will formally hand over power, analysts and diplomats expect them to remain an influential player from behind the scenes for years to come.