Dostour Party founder Mohamed ElBaradei would not run in the event of early presidential elections, he said in an interview with London-based pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat published Friday.
ElBaradei added he would be of more use to Egypt outside the ruling regime.
The National Salvation Front (NSF) leader stressed that providing Egypt’s opposition remains united, its demand for early presidential elections could be achieved.
Popular Current founder Hamdeen Sabbahi shared this vision, ElBaradei claimed.
“The United States supported the Muslim Brotherhood’s coming to power through free elections. It found it a chance to reconcile with Islamists, because all Islamists in the world emerged out of the mantle of the Brotherhood,” ElBaradei said.
However, the Muslim Brotherhood backtracked on its promises to the opposition, ElBaradei claimed, adding: “No one is happy with polarization in Egypt, and everyone will lose as a result. We are doomed to live together, and we must find means for co-existence. In order to attain that, we have to respect each other.”
President Mohamed Morsy has no foreign policy vision, ElBaradei claimed. He said relations between the current regime in Egypt and Gulf states, excluding Qatar, have deteriorated due to fears that the 25 January revolution could spread. “No-one is ready to accept the Muslim Brotherhood at all,” he added.
ElBaradei continued: “What I told Morsy during our meeting was that he had to send a reassuring message to the Gulf countries because they were and are still the main financiers of development projects in Egypt. [But] he did not respond.”
ElBaradei stressed Egypt must develop its foreign policy toward the Gulf states.