Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Egypt’s Presidential Elections 2018 : And Anan is out of the race “Updated”

The drama continues in Egypt’s Presidential Elections on Tuesday , Egypt’s former Chief of staff and Presidential elections Hopeful Sami Anan was arrested and is currently interrogated as the Egyptian army issued an official statement not only rejecting his presidential candidacy as well accusing of number of charges above them forgery and attempt to incite public against army.

Updated on Wednesday : Anan’s family says that it does not know his current whereabouts after his arrest in an exclusive statement to Mada Misr.

Sami Anan (Reuters)
Earlier Tuesday, the Egyptian armed forces released a video statement that did not slam and rejected Sami Anan’s presidential candidacy but it also accused the former Chief of staff of incitement against the army with the aim of “driving a wedge between the armed forces and the Egyptian people”.

The army accused the 1973 war veteran of announcing his presidential candidacy “without getting the approval of the SCAF” or taking the necessary steps to terminate his service in the army. Now interestingly this statement or communique was issued by the General Command of the Egyptian armed forces and not by Supreme Council of Armed Forces “SCAF”.
This remark was noticed by many. I do not know what it means in the real world though.

I remember Sami Anan said clearly that he would admit his papers to the National Elections Authority “NEA” clearly after getting the permission or approval of SCAF per military laws.
The statement said that Anan was not retired yet as he was still on the Egyptian army’s reserve list !!!! It accused him of forging official documents.

Egypt’s Military Prosecutor also issued a gag order on the news related to the investigations into Anan’s case.
The statement did not specify what Anan is being investigated for except that it is case No.1 for the year 2018 in the Military prosecution office.

The “NEA” also excluded Anan from the voters’ database because he breached the elections by having his name added to the electoral roll while serving as an officer on the Egyptian army’s reserve list.
I am quite surprised that the NEA discovered only now this alleged forgery.

In December 2012, Anan and other retired former SCAF leading figures above them Hussein Tantawy voted for the first in their lives as civilians in the 2012 Constitution referendum.
Why did nobody speak about that before?


When Sami Anan founded a political party ( Arabism Egypt)  or when he declared his early intention for the Presidential elections in 2014 “He withdrew too early in the race” , the Egyptian Armed Forces or to be precise SCAF did not issue any statement from near or far declaring the former Chief of Staff committed any electoral fraud, let alone any violation of the military laws !!

In May 2014, Anan was among the celebs who voted in the Presidential elections and it was his first time as well since retirement.
Nobody spoke about any fraud or anything then.

Some journalists did their homework perfectly and searched the Egyptian State official gazette in 2011 in order to find that SCAF resolution No.133  to enlist army officers regardless of their ranks to reserve-list following their retirement and they found nothing.

Lebanese Al-Akhbar who seems to have a very well informed and highly connected correspondent says that Annan was arrested after making calls with foreign officials as well the US embassy in Cairo.

To be honest, I did not imagine that Anan would be kicked out of the Presidential elections in that way.
I thought that old corruption cases would be brought later in the race.

Anan is not the first military who expressed his intention to run for the office and ended up outside the race in a big drama.
Ahmed Shafik also expressed his intentions to run for Presidency and was planning a tour in the States and Europe but the Emirati officials had other plans with the current Egyptian regime.
We all saw what happened to him.
Now Shafik is staying in his house after it was cleaned for weeks. He only meets his party’s officials and that’s it.
By the way , Shafik’s attorney Dina Adly Hussein has joined the legal team of Anan.
Ahmed Shafik and Sami Anan
Ahmed Shafik and Sami Anan in Cairo at St.Peter Cathedral
"Reuters"
Before Shafik, there was also 42-years old Ahmed Konosowa who was sentenced 6 years in military prison by a military court in December for violating the military law and expressing political views who wearing a military uniform.
Colonel Konosowa declared his intention to run for the Presidential elections in a video that went viral in November.
Unlike Anan or former PM Ahmed Shafik,  Konosowa is not retired and it is true that he violated the military law if we are going to speak the truth.
But there is a big but here. Konosowa who seemed to be vocal about his political opinions presented his resignation from his military post from several years but the army did not accept that resignation.
He already was challenging the army in court to accept his resignation.
Also , we should not forget current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared his intention to run for office in March 2014 while wearing the military uniform as well.
I did not trust Konosowa and I thought that he would another trap just like the Army officers of 8 April who did not only return to the service following 3 July but also got promoted !!

Personally, I hope Khaled Ali would withdraw from the Presidential elections on Wednesday. The media regime did not hide that they need him only to present that so-called “civilized scene” in front of the world.
For the sake of true democracy, I believe Ali should not give them that opportunity in that farce.
Let it be a referendum.

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