Mohamed ElBaradei pulled out of the race for the Egyptian presidency yesterday, stating that "the previous regime" was still running the country. Egypt has been governed by army generals since former president Hosni Mubarak was deposed in February.
"My conscience does not permit me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless it is within a real democratic system," said the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, once seen as a leading contender for the presidency.
ElBaradei has been a vocal critic of the military council, which has governed Egypt since Mubarak was toppled.
The military council's opponents say it is seeking to preserve power and privilege in the post-Mubarak era. They say they do not believe the generals' repeated promises that they will surrender power to civilian rule at the end of June.
Headed by the man who was Mubarak's defense minister for two decades, the military council says it has no interest in government and is working to move Egypt toward democracy. ElBaradei took aim at the way the transition was being managed. "The randomness and the mismanagement of the transitional period are pushing the country away from the aims of the revolution," he said.
ElBaradei was head of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997 until 2009. In 2010, he returned to Egypt and began to speak out against Mubarak's rule. He took part in the protests that led to Mubarak's downfall on February 11.
The strongest political force in the country, Islamist groups have dominated elections for the lower house of parliament, which got underway in November and are now coming to a close. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, says it has won 46 percent of the seats, with the more hardline Nour Party winning some 23 percent of the seats.
One of Egypt's main liberal political parties said on Monday it would boycott upper house elections later this month in protest against what it says were violations committed by Islamist parties in earlier voting rounds.
ElBaradei said he would work to help Egypt's youth become part of the political process.