Presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq launched a verbal attack on former presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei to nominate himself for presidency so "everyone would see the election results."
In an interview on privately owned channel CBC Sunday, Shafiq criticised ElBaradei, who has said he considers Shafiq a former regime figure and his nomination as against the revolution. ElBaradei earlier withdrew his presidential bid, blaming the military council's handling of the transition period.
Shafiq described his own history as "patriotic" and therefore better than ElBaradei's. He implied that during ElBaradei's tenure as atomic energy chief for the United Nations, he contributed to the problems in Iraq since the US war began in 2003.
Shafiq also warned ElBaradei against making any offensive retorts, saying his "punishment will be severe."
In the interview, Shafiq also expressed respect for the Salafi political movement but denied receiving any support from Salafi parties, saying he hadn't asked for their support and that he would refuse any future offers from them.
Shafiq refused to evaluate the ruling military council's performance, saying it had faced difficult circumstances in addition to not having enough information. However, he criticized the council’s schedule that put parliamentary elections ahead of writing a new constitution.
Shafiq expressed support for the armed forces' economic activities, which he said help achieve self-sufficiency while also paying taxes.
He said the armed forces budget, currently confidential, should have oversight, but should only be made available to a limited number of government and parliamentary officials.
