CAIRO – 'Egypt above all', is the motto a new political coalition has chosen for its campaign proposing Field-Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi as a potential president of Egypt. Hundreds of posters showing Tantawi in his military uniform have appeared in some main squares of Cairo and Alexandria. The campaigners claim that it is a demand of the silent majority of the Egyptian public that views Tantawi, the present head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), as the best person to lead the country towards real democracy. This campaign is reminiscent of one launched shortly before the January revolution promoting Gamal Mubarak as the next president of Egypt. That campaign triggered criticism from different political rivals and could have been a contributory cause to the revolution against Mubarak regime and its designs for succession with rule passing to Gamal Mubarak. Today's campaign calling for Tantawi as the next president of Egypt is distorting the image of the man and the entire military council. It hasn't ceased to affirm its intention not to pursue rule of the country and its full commitment to hand over rule to a civil state after the transitional period. Mohamed Attiya, the co-ordinator of this new coalition has justified his call on the basis of the Army's role in supporting the revolution. To support his Tantawi for president campaign, he intends to start collecting the signatures of some one million citizens, while claiming that all the presidential hopefuls do not enjoy public trust. He has even hinted at accusations being made against members of the revolutionary movements and coalitions of receiving foreign funding from the US and Europe, forgetting that such accusations are being made by some members of the military institution who have failed to prove their truthfulness. Besides, how could one justify the selection of Tantawi because of his support for the revolution and at the same time cast doubt on the revolutionaries? Field Marshal Tantawi should speedily silence this suspicious campaign that would defame him and deepen public concerns over SCAF's real intentions, especially given that they have remained in rule for a transitional period exceeding in length the six months it initially announced.
