CAIRO - Presidential hopefuls Mansour Hassan and Mahmoud Sherif Sunday withdrew from the first democratic presidential election race since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, who is in jail on charges that include corruption. The elections will be held on May 23 and 24, followed by a runoff, if necessary, in June. "I have decided not to continue pursuing this path, which I had not intended to tread for the sake of the post, but in pursuit of public service,” Hassan said. “It occurred to me, after re-evaluating the circumstances, that this pursuit cannot be achieved in the way that I would approve," said Hassan in a statement released yesterday afternoon. He added that "internal conflicts" between the political entities, who announced they would be officially backing his presidential bid, were the reason for his withdrawal. Earlier this month, the liberal Al-Wafd Party stated that it would lend full support to potential presidential candidate Amr Moussa. However, on the same day that the former minister of information announced he was going to run for the presidency, the party's central committee held an evening meeting and announced they had shifted their endorsement to Hassan. The issue sparked disagreement among the younger members of the party, who objected to the decision. So far, more than 1,000 people have announced their intention to run in the elections. Political analysts and activists are critical of the fact that there are so many presidential hopefuls; they argue that, although everybody should have the right to run for the presidency, the post needs someone with certain traits. Candidate Amr Moussa agrees, explaining that the next president will have to shoulder a lot of responsibilities. “The president has to manage internal and external policies, as well as ensuring the wellbeing of society,” he says, adding that Egypt is passing through a very serious crisis, calling on all Egyptians to unite for the sake of their country. Moussa, the former Secretary-General of the Arab League adds that the next president must encourage all the Egyptians to work together. He calls on the cultured elite to develop Egypt economically, scientifically and technologically, explaining that the security mentality that had governed the country before the January 25 Revolution was the cause for technology not being used. Presidential hopefuls have until April 8 to collect the signatures they need, in order to run in the elections. Some of them have already collected the necessary signatures. S alafist Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, thought to be one of the most popular presidential hopefuls, is among those who have already collected enough signatures. On Saturday, the Salafist Scholars Shura Council announced its endorsement of this candidate. The announcement came after a four-hour meeting of the Council, headed by Abdullah Shaker and his deputy, Mohamed Hassan, a renowned Salafist cleric. "The Council has decided to support Abu Ismail because he is the most suitable and competent person for the job,” Hassan said after the meeting. A number of hopefuls have already started trying to solve the Egyptians' problems. At a seminar held on Saturday night, one of them, activist Khaled Ali, said that Nubia, in Upper Egypt, will not be forgotten.
