CAIRO: Egypt has a new presidential candidate to ponder after newly elected member of Parliament Abdel Ezz el-Hariri joined the lengthy list of possibilities on Tuesday. Speaking in an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, the left-leaning MP said he has officially thrown his name in the running for Egypt's top job. “I will present myself as a national consensus candidate to prove that a secular presidential candidate can win in free elections after the revolution,” el-Hariri was quoted as saying. He is a rare leftist to enter the fray, and it comes as Egypt's Islamists continue to dominate the recent parliamentary elections, with the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) winning some 48 percent of seats through the first two rounds of voting, albeit with low voter turnout. The ultra-conservative al-Nour Party has won 24 percent and the two parties are expected to continue their strong showing as the third and final round of balloting begins on January 3. Hariri is a founder of the leftist Socialist Popular Alliance Party and has accused both top Islamist parties of exploiting peoples' sentiments and buying votes. “Do the Brotherhood or the Salafists or their parties have a programme to help the poor to get out of the vicious circle of poverty? The truth is they don't,” he said. Those already having announced their candidacy include former secretary-general of the Arab League Amr Moussa, Noble peace prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, former leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, former TV host Botheina Kamel and Salafist scholar Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/gglU8 Tags: Abdel Ezz el-Hariri, Elections, featured, Leftist, President Section: Egypt, Latest News
