An announcement by military chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi that he is resigning as Egypt's defense minister and planning to run for president has drawn mixed reactions from the powers that was once united in opposition to ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
While many powers welcomed the announcement and asserted the top military officer's right to stand for highest office, others said al-Sisi would remain the "military candidate" – even if he took off his military fatigues.
"We have been waiting eagerly for this decision; we know that he did not intend to run in the elections, but the critical stages Egypt is witnessing have pushed him to respond to public demand," Amr Gouda, founder of the so-called "Upon the People's Order" campaign, which has been calling for an al-Sisi presidential bid, told Anadolu Agency.
Gouda said that hundreds of Egyptians would flock to Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square to celebrate the announcement.
Galal Murrah of the Salafist Nour Party also hailed the move, saying al-Sisi had the right to run in elections and "rise to this tough job in the light of this difficult phase of Egypt's history."
Mai Wahba, spokesperson for Tamarod, the youth group that claims to have collected millions of signatures from Egyptians in the run-up to the mass June 30 protests that led to Morsi's ouster, agreed.
"Al-Sisi has the right as an Egyptian citizen to run in the presidential polls; it has nothing to do with whether he comes from a civilian or military background," Wahba told AA.
Tamarod had already thrown its support behind the military chief even before he announced his intention to stand for the presidency.
Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr, head of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, dismissed the notion that al-Sisi's presidential bid meant that Morsi's ouster was a de facto "military coup" – as is asserted by Morsi's supporters.
"Al-Sisi's bid has nothing to do with talk of a 'military coup' – it's only about his ability to continue down the democratic path," Shukr said.
Several political powers, however, disagreed with this assessment.
Ahmed Imam, spokesman for the Strong Egypt Party, said al-Sisi's announcement "would aggravate, not solve, Egypt's political crisis."
"We hoped to see a civilian president emerge through genuine elections on a platform that would bring Egyptians together, but this isn't the case with al-Sisi," he said, voicing concerns about the integrity of the polls.
"We had hoped that all candidates would stand a fair chance, but we don't expect this," he lamented.
Activist Mohamed al-Baqer, spokesman for the Revolution Path Front, which opposes both the army-backed authorities and Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, said that al-Sisi's bid "confirms that what happened [last July 3] was a military coup against the Egyptian revolution and the entrenchment of military rule in Egypt."
"Revolutionary powers will continue fighting the counter-revolution, which only employs oppressive solutions," he added.
Ever since al-Sisi led the army's move to oust Morsi last July, speculation has been rife as to his presidential ambitions.
Since Morsi's removal from office on the back of massive demonstrations against his presidency, al-Sisi has ridden a wave of popularity. He has been heavily promoted by Egypt's pro-army media and bolstered by support from a number of politicians and public figures.
This has led observers to predict that the field marshal – a rank to which al-Sisi was promoted in February – would dominate at the polls, dates for which have yet to be announced.
