Former IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei’s announcement that he is withdrawing from the Egyptian Presidential race has taken everybody by surprise, with the move seen by many as an indictment of the new political system.
The reason this has been focused on is that ElBaradei combined his announcement with a condemnation of the military, and insisted the reason he was withdrawing was because the military junta was making it impossible for a fair election to take place.
But while the junta’s continued stranglehold on the government has spawned many concerns across the political spectrum, it is unclear if ElBaradei’s move was really a function of sudden anger over that long-standing complaint or just a recognition that his prospects were growing dim.
The Islamist factions were overwhelming winners in the elections for the lower house of parliament, and even among the non-religious candidates ElBaradei was seen as a distant second to former Arab League chief Amr Moussa. His political bloc is all but irrelevant, and while his name still carries weight within Egypt, it seems unlikely he would be able to turn the tables in a presidential campaign.
The recognition in ElBaradei’s camp that his campaign was a lost cost is nothing new, and indeed ElBaradei offered to abandon his presidential ambitions in November if the junta would appoint him “interim prime minister.”
Mr ElNaradei did not have the support of Iran, the regional superpower.
It is like poetic justice.
When ElBaradei was in charge of the IAEA he kowtowed to the US and Israel by constantly modifying his report to satisfy his masters in Israel and never giving a clean slate to Iran, which it deserved.
ElBaradei is responsible for giving excuses to the US and its stooges in Europe to place sanctions on Iran.
He had a good chance of filling the void after the fall of the despot Mubarak, but his meeting with the Iranian officials did bot go well and Iran refused to support him. Serves him right.
What??? Since when is Iran the regional super-power in Egypt? Try buying a map sometime. I rather imagine that the Egyptians would be the people most surprised to find this out. And, you seemed to have missed the minor fact that Mr. El Baradei was constantly opposing the US claims that Iran had a nuclear program, and was eventually replaced at the IAEA by US political maneuvering.
reminds me when elbaradi was at the u.n. ,he tried to stop bush's idiotic invasion of iraq, here was a noble prize winner against yosemite sam (bolton)no wonder the world laughs at us