CAIRO: Egyptian presidential candidate and television personality Bothaina Kamel today accused ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman of high treason for scuttling the water crisis talks between Egypt and Nile Basin countries. “The new electoral laws were passed to prevent holding elections,” Kamel said while calling on all women to run for parliamentary seats. Kamel is currently the only female Egyptian presidential candidate. The television broadcaster gave remarks at a political symposium organized by the April 6 Youth Movement in the Mahalla Cultural Garden in the Delta governorate. Bothaina will rule for the presidency despite stiff resistance, particularly from the el-Nour Party whose chairman urged that woman should not run for the presidency. “We must make them always obliged to do what we want,” Kamel said in response. The upcoming Egyptian parliamentary and presidential elections will likely be marred with security problems, and Kamel called for peoples' committees to protect electoral constituencies and promote political awareness. “The current public prosecutor trying former regime officials was appointed by the Mubarak regime,” said Kamel. “This could lead to unfair trials and the possibility that January 25 martyrs will not be vindicated.” Kamel called on all youth to join political parties and the political process. “Our governorate is a real landmark of the revolution,” said April 6 Youth Movement Coordinator Ahmed Maher. “The new election law allows former regime officials to return to political life, and the insistence of the military council to pass this law leaves many unanswered questions.” “The next council will be the most dangerous in Egypt's history,” said legal expert Tareq el-Beltagy. “This body will pass the constitution after the first Egyptian elections.” “The role of the Interior Ministry is no longer a factor as all electoral procedures will be handled by the courts,” he added.
