CAIRO - An Islamist presidential hopeful, who was released from prison after Mubarak's ouster, is up in arms to reach the nation's top job. Magdi Ahmed Hussein, who was a staunch opponent of Hosni Mubarak, says that he's going to run for president so that an unsuitable candidate doesn't get elected. Hussein has paid heavily for opposing Mubarak and his cronies. He was imprisoned for libelling former Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali (now standing trial for abuse of power and enormous irregularities). Mubarak and his two sons are expected to stand trial on charges of illegally amassing wealth and the abuse of power. The former president could also be charged with ordering ex-Minister of Interior Habib el-Adly to use live ammunition against demonstrators in Al Tahrir Square. Hussein was found guilty of libel when he wrote an article in the mouthpiece of Al-Amal (Labour) opposition party, in which he said that Wali had collaborated with Israel against his country. He was also sentenced to two years in prison by a court martial for attempting to cross the Egyptian border with Gaza without permission, during the Israeli war on Gaza in late 2008. Hussein was released four days after the eruption of the anti-Mubarak revolution, the day after the so-called Friday of Anger, when thousands of demonstrators in Cairo and in other cities were killed and injured by riot police. Nor did the Labour Party, of which Hussein was Secretary-General, escape the former regime's tough measures. Frozen for 11 years, it was only revived last month after Mubarak's ousting. The ex-convict, an Islamist, says that he will announce his presidential programme within a month, but he denies that it will contain 'surprises'. Observers predict that Hussein's presidential programme will appeal to Muslim fundamentalists, although he himself has sought to appease everyone by declaring that the Labour Party, regardless of its Islamic background and manifesto, welcomes Coptic members. “Islam has created a civilisation, and a political, economic and social vision, which can help resolve Egypt's problems. It provides solutions for humanity's problems,” he says, referring to growing calls in the West to use Islamic economic theories to overcome the global financial crisis. Hussein says, if elected president, he will devote himself to realising the principles of the January 25 revolution: social justice, freedom, economic development and national independence. Hussein is confident that his credibility and political experience will stand him in good stead in the presidential elections. “The new president should devote himself to saving Egypt from reactionary tendencies,” he stressed, adding that Egypt was hijacked by Mubarak and his cronies. “The freezing of the Labour Party under Mubarak was illegal. According to the Law on Political Parties, the party should have only been frozen for 30 days, not 11 years. Its mouthpiece newspaper was banned too.” Hussein, who was the Editor-in-Chief of the mouthpiece, Al-Shaab (The People), obtained 14 rulings from the Council of State to start republishing the newspaper. “But it was easy for the former regime to ignore these rulings.” Al-Shaab is due to start hitting the newsstands again on Tuesdays this month.
