Presidential hopeful Mohamed Selim al-Awa accused Egypt’s Interior Ministry of laxity in confronting poor security in Egypt, saying security leaders were implementing ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s strategy of "me or chaos."
Awa told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the “Interior Ministry doesn’t want things to return to the way they were." He went on to say that former heads in the dissolved State Security Investigations Service (SSIS) want to control political life in Egypt once again.
In March, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s cabinet dissolved the notorious SSIS, whose history of brutal practices encouraged the uprising that toppled Mubarak after three decades of ruling the country.
Awa is an Islamic thinker and well-known law professor. He is one of three presidential hopefuls with an Islamist background.
On discussing his electoral campaign, Awa said he did not fear competition with fellow Islamist presidential hopeful Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh.
"On the contrary, I call for 100 Islamist and 100 liberal candidates, as two Islamist, two Liberal and one Nasserist candidates are insufficient,” said Awa. “I wish we would make use of electoral campaigning to educate the people.”
“All of us – liberals, Islamists, and atheists – should spread our ideas as widely as possible, and when the time comes to vote, people belonging to a certain ideology will agree on a single candidate."
Translated from the Arabic Edition
