Egyptian leftist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi said on Saturday that he had decided to run for the presidency in the elections scheduled for April, making him the first to declare his intention to enter the 2014 presidential race.
Although army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has not officially declared himself as a runner, his grass-roots popularity among Egyptians fed by a huge media campaign flattering him as a hero will more than likely put him at the top of the presidential race. He is widely expected to win the elections after he toppled former President Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood in July following nation-wide protests against his one-year rule.
Sabbahi stressed that he respects both the army and the police for “their patriotic roles” and that he will fight both the rampant corruption caused by 30 years of Mubarak rule and the terrorism he labeled an Islamist reaction to the fierce crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
“I favor Sabbahi over Sisi because Sabbahi has a good CV while Sisi has become known only after Morsy's ousting,” said 23-year-old plumber Mohamed Salah.
The Nasserist leader had entered the 2012 Egyptian presidential race in which he finished third place with 21.5 percent of the vote, trailing in second place to winner Ahmed Shafiq by a margin of 700,000 votes.
“Sisi is a hero. He is fighting terrorism and securing the country. He is patriotic, will protect the country and will be independent of American control,” said construction worker Mostafa al-Shazly, 47.
Sabbahi is supported by the left-wing Nasserist Egyptian Popular Current movement and the Al-Karama (Dignity) Party that he founded in 1996.
"My personal decision as a citizen is to run in the coming presidential elections," Sabbahi said in a public address to supporters. "Hamdeen Sabbahi's battle is to fulfill the demands of the 25 January and June 30 revolutions," he said.
