FILE PHOTO: Egypt's former prime minister Ahmed Shafik speaks during an interview with Reuters at his residence in Abu Dhabi February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh/File Photo

CAIRO (Reuters) - Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafik is no longer considering running for president in this year’s elections, he said in a statement on his Twitter account on Sunday.

Shafik was seen as the most serious potential challenger to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an election due early in the year, though Sisi has yet to officially announce his candidacy.

Shafik returned to Egypt from the United Arab Emirates in December after announcing his intention to run, setting off a firestorm of criticism from state-aligned media and speculation that he was being held by authorities in a Cairo hotel.

The 76-year-old, an ex-air force commander and former aviation minister, narrowly lost a presidential election to Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi in 2012 before fleeing for the United Arab Emirates, where he has lived since.

Shafik said on Sunday that his time back in Egypt has led him to reconsider the decision.

“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,” the statement said.

“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.”</s>Ahmed Shafik, a former Egyptian prime minister, has said he will not stand for president in the country's upcoming presidential elections.

The 76-year-old had previously announced his plan to run in an exclusive video message to Al Jazeera.

"I saw that I will not be the ideal person to lead the state during the coming period," a statement posted on Shafik's Twitter account read on Sunday.

"Thus I have decided not to run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections."

Shafik was seen as one of the few people who could potentially challenge President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the election, scheduled to take place in March.

From Egypt to UAE and back

Shafik was prime minister for one month in 2011, during that year's Arab Spring uprising.

After losing a 2012 election to Mohamed Morsi, Shafik fled to the United Arab Emirates. While in Abu Dhabi, he was placed on trial in absentia in Egypt and found guilty of corruption charges.

He was later acquitted, clearing his path for a potential return to Egypt.

He did so last month after being deported from the UAE - a strong Sisi supporter - for reasons that are still unclear.

With his whereabouts unknown upon his arrival in Egypt's capital, Cairo, Shafik's family members feared he had been "kidnapped" by Egyptian authorities.

However, Shafik denied this in a subsequent TV appearance.

A former air force commander, Shafik was previously thought of as planning to go on a European tour to campaign for his presidential bid among the Egyptian diaspora.</s>CAIRO - Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafik is no longer considering running for president in this year's elections, he said in a statement posted on his Twitter account on Sunday.



Shafik, an ex-air force commander, was seen as the most serious potential challenger to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an election due early in the year, though Sisi has yet to officially announce his candidacy.



"I saw that I will not be the ideal person to lead the state during the coming period. Thus I have decided not to run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections," Shafik's statement said.</s>FILE PHOTO: Former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq attends a news conference in Cairo, Egypt May 14, 2012. Photo: Reuters

JOHANNESBURG – Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafik has said via his Twitter account he will no longer challenge incumbent President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in this year’s elections.

“I saw that I will not be the ideal person to lead the state during the coming period. Thus I have decided not to run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections,” Shafik said in a statement posted on the social media site on Sunday.

The former air force commander had been seen as the most serious challenge to Sisi even though the president has not officially announced his candidacy.

Egypt’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) will on Monday afternoon announce the timetable of the country’s upcoming presidential elections – expected in the spring of 2018 – and details of the electoral process.

The independent NEC, established by a presidential decree in August 2017, is a 10-member commission and has sole responsibility for supervising general elections and referendums in Egypt.

The president of Egypt is elected using the two-round system, as outlined in Egypt’s constitution.

Election proceedings are to begin no later than 120 days before the end date of the current presidential term on June 7, 2018, and results will be announced no later than 30 days before the end of the current presidential term.

The last presidential elections were held in May 2014, with Sisi securing 96 percent of the vote against his sole competitor, Hamdeen Sabahi, a leftist and leader of the Egyptian Popular Current party Hamdeen Sabahi.</s>A former Egyptian prime minister announced on Sunday that he will not run in the country’s upcoming presidential elections.

Ahmed Shafiq posted on social media that he was not the “ideal person” to lead the country in the days to come.

“For this reason, I have decided not to run in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections,” he added.

The 76-year-old politician made the announcement after a meeting with the general board of his National Movement Party at his house.

Shafiq -- the last prime minister of Egypt’s Mubarak era -- had said earlier that he was planning to run.

He briefly served as prime minister under autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down in early 2011 following 18 days of popular demonstrations against his regime.

In Egypt’s first-ever free presidential election in 2012, Shafiq lost -- by a narrow margin -- to Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group. He lived in the United Arab Emirates until recently moving back to Egypt after being deported from the UAE in December.
The former Prime Minister of Egypt, 76-year-old Ahmed Shafik, retracts his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections.