Protestors Torch Presidential Candidate Campaign Office in Egypt
Shafiq's Office Torched
Egyptians took it to Tahrir Square on Tuesday after the electoral commission validated the results of the first round of presidential election and the fact that the runoff will be disputed by former Mubarak’s premier Ahmed Shafiq and the leader of the Mother Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi.
Several thousands gathered in the iconic square demanding the electoral commission to disqualify Ahmed Shafiq from the race, chanting “Where is the revolution?” Some attacked the campaign headquarters of the candidate, ransacked it and set it ablaze, when they learnt that he was competing with the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.
The spokesman for Shafiq’s office said that the office was rapidly contained and that no one was hurt. The spokesman said that while anti-Shafiq protesters were dozens, while his supporters were thousands. Anti-Shafiq demonstrations were also reported in Alexandria and other cities.
On Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi reassured the Christian Copts and the women in Egypt that their rights will be respected, as the Copts and the women fear that a conservative Islamist party would threaten their freedoms.
Morsi said, during a press conference, that the “Christian brothers” are national partners and have full rights just like the Muslim do, adding that the Copts will participate in a presidential institution.
Christian Copts make 10 percent of the 80 million population of Egypt, and have often complained that their freedoms are being violated. Christians have been submitted to various attacks over the last two years, and have pulled out of the constitutional assembly, denouncing the Muslim monopoly in it.
Morsi also made promises to respect the women of the country, to allow them to work in whatever field of endeavor they want to, and to choose for themselves the way they want to dress. He promised that the next leadership will not force the women to wear veils.
Speaking hours after the torching of Shafiq’s office, Morsi said that Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, Freedom and Justice party, do not seek to “dominate” the country, and that the constitution that is about to be drafted will satisfy everyone.
The interim prime minister Kamal al-Ganzuri said he would meet ministers and governors after the attacks as a senior military official said that the supreme military council in power is determined to tackle any violence that may occur in the run-up to the runoff in June 16-17. The police has already arrested eight suspects near Shafiq’s office.
The people who made the revolution in Egypt have a difficult choice electing one of the two candidates for the runoffs, since voting for Shafiq would be admitting that the revolution has failed, while voting for Morsi would offer the Muslim Brotherhood the possibility to monopolize power after winning by a landslide victory the parliamentary election.11
