CAIRO: Dr. Abdel-Moniem Aboul-Fotouh, a potential presidential candidate, said he is hopeful that the next presidential elections will witness young candidates who are in their 40s and are of a similar age of the U.S president Barack Obama. He blamed the former regime for ignoring the youth over the last 30 years and withdrawing the political arena from them, even when they were qualified to hold responsibility over their country. During a speech delivered in front of the Faculty of Engineering at Ain-Shams University, Aboul-Fotouh criticized those who support Omar Soliman, the former Egyptian Vice President. "Soliman was Hosni Mubarak's left hand," said Aboul-Fotouh. Supporting Soliman in the next presidential elections is an act of treason, he added. Aboul-Fotouh demanded the Egyptian youth to protect their revolution which faces internal and external enemies."He cannot allow others to steal our democracy," he said to them. He mentioned that the U.S managed to prevent democracy in Africa by giving it millions of dollars. Aboul-Foutouh warned of the possibility of the next parliamentary and presidential elections being stolen in Egypt. On the other hand, Soliman's supporters refused Aboul-Fotouh's accusations. They said that "it is not logical for them to be accused of treason because of their desire to nominate Mr. Soliman, especially at a time where democracy is starting in Egypt. They added that their campaign is not new, and that it started in 2005 to pressure the former regime to appoint Soliman as Egypt's Vice President in order to undermine the inheritance plan of Mubarak's family. They also said their call started before the January 25 Revolution, expressing their confidence that Soliman is the person who will maintain the gains of the revolution and restore security and stability in the streets. They added that Soliman did not abandon his principles after the revolution in order to achieve personal gains, an action that was carried out by Aboul-Fotouh, who left the Muslims Brotherhood in order to gain power. Arabic here
