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, 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. 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. "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 said in a statement posted on the social media site on Sunday.
The former Prime Minister of Egypt, 76-year-old Ahmed Shafik, retracts his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections.