| Meet the lesser-known candidates running for the nation’s top job |
| By Farida Helmy |
| Mahmoud Hossam El Din Galal M ahmoud Hossam El Din Galal was born in Alexandria on September 11, 1964. The police officer-turned-businessman earned a degree in law in 1985 and joined the Ministry of Interior immediately after graduation. He has participated in a number of international operations including joining international peace-keeping forces.Galal resigned from the ministry in 1997 and went on to establish a number of investments in Egypt and other Arab countries. These, he claims, have given him the experience that further qualify him to run for Egypt’s presidency. He founded and heads the Bedaya Party as well as a coalition of Egypt’s 17 central parties. His priority, if elected, is reforming the Ministry of Interior and ridding it of corruption. Meanwhile, he promises to meet all the demands made by the revolution. While planning to maintain and strengthen Egypt’s ties with the international community, Galal aims to achieve agricultural self-sufficiency to rid Egypt of its dependence on food imports. He also plans to apply Islamic Shariah. Married with two daughters, Galal also breeds Arabian horses and is a professional jockey. Abdallah Al Ashaal A bdallah Al Ashaal is the Salafist Asala party’s presidential nominee. The candidate, however, has played down the significance of his choice of party, saying that if any other party had nominated him, he would have accepted. The former deputy foreign minister announced that he would not run for president, stepping aside in favor of the Freedom and Justice Party’s Khairat El Shater. Nevertheless, he later submitted his candidacy application following the confusion over El Shater’s eligibility to run. He is a professor of international law at the American University in Cairo and an Islamic thinker. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1968 and became the deputy minister of foreign for legal affairs, treaties and political planning. He resigned in 2003 in a highly publicized move that exposed the regime’s corruption. Mohamed Fawzy Eissa M ohamed Fawzy Eissa is perhaps the least known presidential candidate. Born January 14, 1945, this Democratic Generation Party presidential nominee earned his law degree in 1964 from Ain Shams University. He later earned his PhD from his alma mater in 1994; that same year, he also received a diploma in police studies from the Police Academy. Although he was one of the first candidates to present a nomination application and is reported to have had his presidential platform ready at the time of his application, very little else is known about him. |
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