Omar Suleiman Stirs a Storm

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Thu, 26 Sep 2013 - 10:07 GMT

BY

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 - 10:07 GMT

The second Omar Suleiman announced his presidency bid a storm swept through Egypt, so we polled the streets and the web asking how people felt about this very last minute announcement.
By Hana Zuhair
Egypt’s former intelligence chief and briefly vice-president during the 18-day uprising, Omar Suleiman, took the nation by surprise when he announced his presidency bid on April 6.Suleiman submitted his papers at the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission on Saturday, April 8, escorted by the police — something that has raised a few eyebrows, particularly those of activists.The news has been met with both smiles and frowns on the Egyptian street and away from it. As much as the web buzzed with negative commentary, many were filled with joy when they heard the news. So we threw the question: “What do you think of Omar Soleiman running for presidency?” to the online and offline public spheres.   Edited excerpts: “He is the only option for us to get rid of Islamist candidates, and particularly those of the Muslim Brotherhood since Abu Ismail is no longer eligible to run and I believe [Abdel Moneim] Aboul Fotouh is still [affiliated with] the Brotherhood, not a former member. In other words, it’s obvious that either Abu Ismail, Aboul Fotouh or, of course, Amr Moussa would’ve won. Omar Suleiman, to me, is the best of them. I wanted him to run from the beginning. I always thought Omar Suleiman must run for presidency to oppose these new Islamist waves.” Ahmed Gamal Sadek, 24, banker
 
“Between his candidacy and Nour and Abu Ismail's disqualifications, democracy in Egypt is hanging by a thread.” William S. Van Der Veen, 29, Cairo-based researcher “It’s an insult to the revolution.” Salma Khalil, 32, housewife “Those who [will] vote for Omar Suleiman, [will] vote for the end of the revolution.” Amgad Abouzeid, 22, political science student “He’ll save us from this misery.” Essam Ahmed, 43, valet parker “[His bid is] a shame on everyone who participated in [and] supported the January 25 Revolution. More shameful, [would be] him winning.” Mohamed Hisham, 29, pricing analyst at Yahoo! “I think him being that intimidating to many will solve many problems this country is facing, be it crime or Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood.]” Ehsan Shebeshy, 34, housekeeper “If he is elected, it means the revolution has been hijacked. I had a feeling there would be a second and a third attempt for the Americans and Israelis to sneak him in as president. If he becomes president then I am fully convinced there is rigged voting.” Iraqi Nasr El Hashimi, 32, works in advertising “I like the idea of Suleiman running. [It’s] a chance for people to repudiate [Hosni] Mubarak, [Supreme Council of Armed Forces] SCAF and military rule at the ballot box.” Wendell Bell (@wndlB) from the US told us on twitter.

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