CAIRO: Ayman Nour, the disputed leader of Al-Ghad party, announced that he will run for president in the 2011 elections, and will appoint two vice presidents including a Coptic woman. Nour called on incumbent President Hosni Mubarak to step down and retire from the political arena. "I call on President Mubarak to retire from his post, to respond to the people's demands, and to change the constitution to one that is appropriate to Egypt's status in the region, he said in a press conference Tuesday morning held at his party's headquarters in Downtown Cairo. Nour reiterated his intention to run for president despite it being put into question due to his conviction and imprisonment for charges of forging his party's official documents, and the legal dispute over his party's legitimacy. He said he will announce a shadow coalition government a few months before the elections. "The names of the cabinet members, with whom I will enter elections, will be a pleasant surprise to all Egyptians, he said. He added that he is prepared to take legal action should he be prevented from running for president. "The law they are using to prevent me from nomination was issued in 1937, and the Supreme Court had previously issued four verdicts describing some articles in this law as unconstitutional. We will announce the specific procedures we plan on taking at the right time, he explained. Nour announced that he will file a lawsuit on Wednesday at the Administrative Court, calling for the cancellation of a decision issued by the interior minister to prevent him from holding a rally in Tahrir Square. He also criticized the intense siege imposed by security forces on his party's Downtown headquarters. Nour distributed a booklet detailing his electoral program among the journalists present. His program includes a number of reform steps, most importantly the cancellation of emergency law and other laws violating civil freedoms; calling for the establishment of an elected body to pen a new constitution; forming a two-year transitional government and reintroducing an election system for appointing officials in top posts, including governors and university deans. "If the political powers agree on one candidate, we will support him no matter who he is, Nour said.
