A third candidate for the Egyptian presidency against Mubarak

The Egyptian businessman Muhammad Farid Hassanin has proposed himself for the parliament as a nominee for the presidency of the country. He said that his aim is not to win the presidency, rather to help establish democracy.

Hassanin said he entered the elections in order to "place the ball in the court of the government" and in order to unmask the faults in the constitution which supports the same ruler since 1954, as he alleged.

Hassanin was a former member in the Egyptian parliament and one of three activists who announced their determination to nominate themselves in a symbolic step under the current regime which states to only have one candidate for the presidency in a general referendum.

According to the current system, the parliament will choose one candidate, expected to be President Hosni Mubarak who has been ruling Egypt since 1981. The candidate's name will be put into a presidential referendum in September when the voters will cast their votes for the only nominee with a yes or no vote.