A group of protesters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, set fire late on Monday to the election campaign headquarters of former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, local media reported.
Egypt’s Al-Hayat television showed the footage of the fire, which burnt an annex to Shafiq’s HQ building. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, limiting the damage to about $130,000. No injuries have been reported.
Police have arrested several suspects at the site. The protesters have been rallying around the building to manifest their frustration and anger over the fact that Shafiq, who was the last prime minister of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak, made it into the second round of presidential elections.
Egypt’s Supreme Presidential Election Commission has confirmed that Shafiq and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi will compete in a presidential runoff vote on June 16-17.
Shafiq, 70, who has close ties with the Egyptian military and is considered a symbol of the past autocracy, has promised to ensure security in the country if he is elected.
Muslim Brotherhood, which played a key role in last year’s uprising that put an end to Mubarak’s rule, has already called on political forces in the country to thwart “attempts to revive the old regime in a new form,” and “to save the nation and the revolution.”
The polls, which mark the nation's transition from the present military to a civilian rule, are the first alternative elections since 2005 when Mubarak ensured a landslide victory over other candidates.
Egypt has been run by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) since Mubarak’s ouster in 2011. The military immediately abolished the constitution and dissolved the parliament, promising to pass the rule to civilian authorities after democratic elections.
During the transitional period, the military set up general elections, which were swept by Islamists. At the same time, they failed to agree the basics of the future constitution with political forces, leaving the country without fundamental law.
