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CAIRO – A leading Egyptian presidential candidate lashed out Monday at anIslamist lawmaker who accused him of graft, treating voters to anew spectacle in an already unprecedentedly heated campaign. These are the first competitive presidential elections in thecountry's modern history, and in the last week of campaigningperiod candidates are facing a level of public scrutiny rarely seenbefore in Egyptian politics — including televised debates,interviews and legal challenges. The front-runners include two former officials from the era ofdeposed president Hosni Mubarak and two Islamist candidates. Theyhave clashed over the role of religion, the degree to which Egyptneeds to change, and whether politicians from the old Egypt shouldhold office in the new. The vote follows 29 years of Mubarak's autocratic rule. He was thesole candidate in all but one of the presidential contests in thatperiod, and it would have been unthinkable for him to have to facesuch questions. Mubarak was forced from power by a popular uprising in February2011. A ruling military council took over and has promised to handover power to a civilian president by June 30. Official campaigning began two weeks ago. On Thursday, an Islamistcandidate and a former foreign minister participated in the Arabworld's first-ever public presidential debate, in which they tradedaccusations about each other's political history. Now, Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force pilot and Mubarak's lastprime minister who is seen by some as the military's preferredcandidate, is the latest contestant to have to answer for hisrecord. Islamist lawmaker Essam Soltan accused Shafiq of using his officesas a head of a air force pilots' association in the 1990s to sell alarge plot of state land at a below-market price to Mubarak's sons. Soltan raised the accusations in parliament and filed a complaintto the public prosecutor Sunday. The prosecutors are currentlyinvestigating the case. Shafiq swiftly denied the accusations, saying it was part of a"defamation campaign" against him by the Islamist-dominatedparliament. This is not Shafiq's first brush with Egypt's new unpredictablepolitical system. He was already briefly disqualified from the raceafter the Islamist-dominated parliament passed a law barring formerregime officials in the past 10 years from running for office. Buthe was reinstated 24 hours later after the presidential electioncommission referred the law to the Constitutional Court. In his Monday press conference, Shafiq took a jab at the parliamentand at Soltan personally, saying they were on a campaign to hinderhis rise. He said he wanted "to answer to these fabrications Soltan isthrowing my way arbitrarily as part of an organized defamationcampaign." He threw out an accusation of his own, accusing Soltan of being aregime agent who spied on the protesters at the height of theuprising that brought Mubarak down. Shafiq also accused him ofbeing used by security agencies to carry out sting operationsagainst other Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Islamist groups were Mubarak's best organized opponents and werethe main target of his crackdowns. "All he wished was to lick shoes to be allowed to form his ownparty," Shafiq said. "I wish that when someone acts like a man, heis a man all his life." Soltan dismissed Shafiq's accusations as "unsubstantiated," mockingwhat he said was a transformation from a Mubarak loyalist to achampion of the opposition. Both sides are playing to fears about their opponents: theIslamists suggesting that the former regime officials will take thecountry back to the days Mubarak, and the former officialssuggesting that the Islamist candidates will impose a hard-linereligious agenda. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood, which is also fielding acandidate, posted on its website Friday a religious edict, orfatwa, saying it was religiously banned to vote for the two formerregime officials. "Giving votes to people like these amounts to cooperation with themin aggression and wrongdoing, and failing the honest. ...We urgeall Muslims — all honorable Egyptians — not to fall forthis trap," the edict said. The voting is scheduled on May 23-24 on a list of 13 candidates. Ifas expected no candidate takes a majority, a run-off between thetwo top will take place June 16-17, and a president is to bedeclared on June 21. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Library RFID Tag , Fixed Asset Tags Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit RFID Smart Cards today!
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