In another dramatic development surrounding Ahmed Shafiq\u2019s announcement of candidacy for the 2018 presidential election, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, posted a series of tweets claiming there was \u201cno obstacle\u201d stopping Egypt\u2019s former Prime Minister Shafiq from leaving the country, and that the UAE was saddened by Shafiq\u2019s \u201cthankless\u201d response to its hospitality.<\/p>\n
Shafiq has since stated that the video stating he was banned from leaving the UAE was \u201cleaked to Al Jazeera\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[The UAE] regrets that General Ahmed Shafik has been thankless. Fleeing Egypt, he sought refuge in the UAE after the 2012 presidential election results were announced. We facilitated his stay and offered him our hospitality despite our reservations toward some of his stances,\u201d Gargash wrote on Wednesday on his Twitter account.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UAE has always observed the values of hospitality and care in its treatment [with Shafiq], in love for Egypt and the Egyptian people whom we love and appreciate. The UAE affirms that there is nothing that deters Shafiq from leaving the country,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Shafiq announced in a video on Wednesday the United Arab Emirates had barred him from leaving the country, only hours after announcing he intends to run for the presidency in Egypt\u2019s 2018 election, scheduled for April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised that I was banned from leaving the brotherly nation of the United Arab Emirates, for reasons I do not understand,\u201d Shafiq said in a video statement recorded in Dubai, where he has lived since being defeated by the Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s Mohamed Morsi in the 2012 presidential election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reject interventions into the affairs of my country by preventing me from participating in a constitutional process and a sacred national mission,\u201d Shafiq added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2018m honoured to announce my will to run in the upcoming presidential elections in Egypt as a choice to lead the country for the next four years,\u201d he said in the statement from the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
In the first statement announcing his presidential bid, Shafiq remarked that \u201ca change of blood might be what is called for,\u201d citing the deep downturn in the Egyptian economy, the deterioration of public services and the accumulation of public debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cA true democracy and basic human rights are not grants from anyone,\u201d Shafiq said in his video. \u201cIt is also not something that is granted or given gradually at all. You either have a democracy or you have no democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shafik is one of the few candidates who have announced their bids for the presidency in 2018, with human rights lawyer, Khaled Ali, and Colonel Ahmed Konsowa also announcing their bids.<\/p>\n
(Egypt Independent)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In another dramatic development surrounding Ahmed Shafiq\u2019s announcement of candidacy for the 2018 presidential election, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, posted a series of tweets claiming there was \u201cno obstacle\u201d stopping Egypt\u2019s former Prime Minister Shafiq from leaving the country, and that the UAE was saddened by Shafiq\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":57051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[27970,26359,16037],"class_list":["post-57050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-general-ahmed-shafik","tag-presidential-election","tag-united-arab-emirates"],"yoast_head":"\n