Dubai: Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmad Shafiq announced he would not run in the 2018 presidential elections.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account on Sunday, Shafiq said he was no longer considering running for president in this year’s elections.
Shafiq, 76, an air force commander and aviation minister during the reign of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, returned from the UAE in December after announcing his intention to run.
He said he decided to not run for president after taking stock of the general situation in Egypt.
Addressing the Egyptian people, Shafiq said: “My absence of more than five years perhaps distanced me from being able to very closely follow what is going on in our nation in terms of developments and achievements despite the difficulty of the conditions.
“I have seen that I will not be the ideal person to lead the state’s affairs during the coming period. Thus, I have decided not to run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections.”
Shafiq said on Sunday his time back in Egypt had led him to reconsider his earlier decision.
