A 73-year-old doctor, Nawal Saadawi, announced her plans to run for the presidency in Egypt. Saadawi stated that she is “going to stand in the presidential election not to win but to get the Egyptian people moving in favor of a reform of the constitution and to oppose corruption and American colonialism,” according to Agence France-Presse. However, because parliament chooses the one and only presidential candidate, Saadawi’s campaign is unlikely to have any legal standing, BBC News reports.
According to BBC News Saadawi has been imprisoned and censored for her outspoken feminist views on sex and religion. She is pushing for reform and wants to see a separation between religion and state, and the changing of laws to make them “fair to all,” saying they should not discriminate on the basis of “religion, ethnicity, social class, or profession,” Agence France-Presse reports.
Saadawi will be running against incumbent President Hosni Mubarak, who is expected to run again for his fifth term in office in the October 2005 election.
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