I will vote for Mohammed Morsi

Egyptian presidential candidate Abdullah al-Ashaal Cairo - Akram Ali Egyptian presidential candidate Abdullah al-Ashaal has said that although he could not give up his place in the election race, he will vote for Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi as he believes he doesn't have enough chances to win. Interviewed by Arabstoday, the candidate of the Salafist al-Assala party said: "It is too late now to give up candidacy, as the legal deadline for that is over, but I have asked my supporters to vote for the Brotherhood's candidate instead, as I know I don't have a serious chance." He added: "We can classify the 13 candidates into two main parties, one is the 'former regime's remnants'; the former intelligence officer Hossam Khairallah, Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Moussa, while the other is for the pro-revolution candidates; Mohammed Morsi, Hamdein Sabahy, Abdelmoneim Abul Fotouh, Khaled Ali, Hisham al-Bastawissi, Abul Ezz al-Hariri, Mohammed Selim al-Awa, Mohammed Fawzy Issa, Mahmoud Hossam and me. This large number could break the electoral weight of the pro-revolution voters, so I decided to set an example to the rest of candidates in unifying the pro-revolution side." Al-Ashaal spoke about his choice saying:"Actually I will vote for Morsi myself, and I assume he will gain the support of 70 percent of the voters, as he has leading qualities, is successful, respectful, fair, and backed by a very strong organisation...for these reasons I see him as the most qualified candidate for this position." The former ambassador didn't rule out a place in the new president's administration, while he doubted Egypt's ruling military council would totally hand over power to the new president, unless he was one of the "former regime's remnants". "Whoever wins from the pro-revolution candidates is expected to face a tough challenge with the military council," he said. "I have concerns about  the integrity of the presidential elections, as I'm sure the military council favours a certain candidate. This council had made a crucial mistake in the transition period, by being too soft with ousted president Hosni Mubarak and the principal figures of his regime," said the candidate. Al-Ashaal had vowed to appoint Copts and women in prominent political positions, "as all appointments should be based on merit, not gender nor religion". He his electoral programme included points such as "stopping the ethical decline, addressing unemployment, developing agriculture, and education reform". "But all that should come after restoring security to the Egyptian people, in addition to removing all the remnants of Mubarak's regime from the state's administrative body...the biased laws issued during Mubarak's era should also be abolished," he finished.