Members of the European Parliament and the Egyptian community in Brussels have criticized presidential candidate Amr Moussa for his close ties to former President Hosni Mubarak, suggesting that Moussa's failure to challenge the ousted president raises questions over his fitness for office.
The critical remarks were made in the European Parliament during Moussa's trip to Belgium as part of his European campaign to win the votes from expatriate Egyptians.
After Moussa’s speech in parliament, Isabelle Durant, representative of the Green Party, said that he supported Mubarak for ten years when he was minister of foreign affairs, and that he rejected running in the presidential elections when Mubarak was still in power.
For his part, Rudolph Kareh, an observer in the parliament, said that Moussa failed to achieve reform in the Arab world when he was secretary general of the Arab League, and wondered what he would achieve if he became president of Egypt.
Female activist Gamila Ismail, the only Egyptian that was allowed to speak in the session, wondered if Moussa’s charisma would feed 88 million Egyptians and create jobs for six million.
“I was not working for Mubarak when I was minister of foreign affairs. I was serving my country,” Moussa said, adding that Mubarak started to dislike him when he gained popularity among Egyptians.
“And I did not want to run in the elections because the constitution at that time only allowed Mubarak or his son to run,” he explained.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
