Egyptian Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail said Tuesday that he will not run for president and would not accept any political or ministerial position.
“Many patriotic figures can perform this role, and I can serve my country through my scientific position,” Zewail said in a press conference with Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abouelnaga after he met with Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri.
The Constitutional Declaration issued in March 2011 excludes the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry (1999) from running for president. Until the declaration was issued, Zewail was among the figures expected to run for the office.
The declaration stated specifically that a candidate should be Egyptian, descended from Egyptian parents, holding only Egyptian nationality and married to an Egyptian woman. Zewail, however, is married to a Syrian woman and thus is ineligible.
In response to a question about the Zewail City of Science and Technology’s relationship with Nile University, Zewail said that Nile University conceded buildings that were specified for the city’s research center and university.
Zewail said that the Board of Trustees chairmanship of the science city is unsalaried and without privileges, adding that an Egyptian physics professor, Dr. Sherif Sedki, will act as president of the city’s university starting from next April. Zewail hoped that that university will start work next September.
