Egypt ex-Prime Minister Shafiq says will not stand for president in 2018

Egypt's former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Sunday that he will not now be a candidate in this year's presidential election, reversing a previous pledge to stand. His decision to step aside is likely to pave the way for the poll to be dominated by incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The National Elections Authority is expected to announce a date for the election on Tuesday. Shafiq's decision not to stand came after he was returned to Egypt last month from the United Arab Emirates, where he had lived in exile since 2012. "I have decided to not run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections," Shafiq said in a statement posted online. "I saw that I will not be the best person to lead the country in the coming period." Shafiq was appointed premier by former president Hosni Mubarak shortly before he was toppled in 2011. He was seen as a main challenger for Sisi who has not yet officially announcing his candidacy but is expected to cruise to a new term.
"His withdrawal from the elections might be leaving the scene void of any strong personality that can challenge President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi," said Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, a political science professor at Cairo University. Shafiq announced his plan to stand in a November 29 video from the UAE, saying that it seemed Egypt needed "new blood" to face "many problems in all aspects of life".
After angering his Emirati hosts by saying in a video first aired by Al-Jazeera that he was being prevented from leaving the country, his aides said he was deported on December 2.