Ahmed Mohamed Shafik ZakiAlso spelled: ''Shafiq''. ( ar, أحمد محمد شفيق زكى, ; born 25 November 1941) is an Egyptian politician and former presidential candidate. He was a senior commander in the Egyptian Air Force and later served as

Prime Minister of Egypt The prime minister of Egypt () is the head of the Egyptian government. A direct translation of the Arabic-language title is "Minister-President of Egypt" and "President of the Government". The Arabic title can also be translated as "President of ...

from 29 January 2011 to 3 March 2011 under

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

. After a career as a fighter pilot, and squadron, wing and group commander, Shafik was the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force from 1996 to 2002, reaching the rank of air marshal. Thereafter he served in the government as Minister of Civil Aviation from 2002 to 2011. He was appointed as prime minister by President

on 29 January 2011 in response to the

2011 Egyptian Revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

, making him the last prime minister to serve as part of Mubarak's administration. He remained in office for only one month, resigning on 3 March 2011, one day after a contentious talk show confrontation in which

Alaa Al Aswany Alaa Al Aswany ( ar, علاء الأسواني, ; born 26 May 1957) is an Egyptian writer, novelist, and a founding member of the political movement Kefaya. Early life and career Al Aswany was born on 26 May 1957 in Cairo. His mother, Zaina ...

, a prominent Egyptian novelist, accused him of being a Mubarak regime holdover. He narrowly lost out in the 2012 Egyptian presidential elections to

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Freedom and Justice Party, gaining 48.27% of the vote, compared to Morsi's 51.73%.

Early life and education

Shafik was born in the Heliopolis district of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

on 25 November 1941. His parents were prominent members of Egyptian society, with his father, Mohamed Shafiq Zaki, serving as undersecretary at the ministry of irrigation and his mother, Naja Alwi, being the daughter of a noted ophthalmologist. After completing his schooling at the Heliopolis Secondary School, he attended the

Egyptian Air Academy The Egyptian Air Academy (Arabic: الكلية الجوية المصرية) is a college in Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, tasked with training officer candidates for the Egyptian Air Force. Established in 1951, the Egyptian Air Academy is ...

from where he graduated in 1962 at the age of 21 and became a member of the Egyptian Air Force (EAF). Later in his career, he gained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in military science; a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship of High War College from Nasser Military Academy; a Fellowship of Combined Arms from the High War College in Paris; a Fellowship of the National Defense College from Nasser Military Academy; and a PhD in "The National Strategy of Outer-Space". Air Marshal Ahmed Shafik received the highest medals and merits during his service.

Military career

As a young officer, Shafik served as a

Mig-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

and

Mig-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...

fighter pilot and was later appointed as fighter air squadron commander. During the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

(1967–1970), Shafik saw active service as the Multi-Task Airwing Commander. Subsequently, he took up a post as an air base commander. During the 1973

October War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Eg ...

, Shafik was a senior fighter pilot under

's command. Shafik shot down two Israeli aircraft during the war on 14 October 1973. During his 40 years of service in the Egyptian Air Force as a fighter pilot, he flew several types of fighter jets including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and the Dassault Mirage 2000; he also acted as the wing commander for the Egyptian Air Force acrobatic team. He is also fully qualified on the American-built McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. In 1984, Shafik was appointed military attaché in the Egyptian Embassy in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He continued in this role until 1986. In 1986, he was promoted to Air Commodore and became commander of a Group and Mig-21 Airbase. During the CSF conscription riot of 1986, President Mubarak wanted the Armed Forces to crush the revolt. He relied on the Air Force to intimidate and bomb some CSF rebels in Cairo and

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

. The commander who was tasked with the actual execution of the operation was Brigadier/Air Commodore Ahmed Shafik, as Deputy Chief of Operations (Fighter-Bomber) for the Central Air Region. From 1988 to 1991, Shafik served several military senior command positions before he was appointed as the Commander of the Air Operations Department. In September 1991, Shafik was appointed as the Air Force's Chief of Staff, holding this position until April 1996, when he became Commander of the Egyptian Air Force. In 2002 he resigned from military service and was succeeded by his chief-of-staff Air Marshal Magdy Galal Sharawi.

Political career

After retiring from the Air Force, Shafiq became the Minister of Civil Aviation on 18 September 2002, not long after the Ministry's formation. Whilst he was the minister for civil aviation, he oversaw improvements in EgyptAir and helped construct a new third terminal at Cairo International Airport which was completed in 2008 and opened for commercial operations on 27 April 2009. He continued the position until succeeding

Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Nazif ( ar, أحمد نظيف, ; born 8 July 1952) served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from 14 July 2004 to 29 January 2011, when his cabinet was dismissed by President Hosni Mubarak in light of a popular uprising that led to the Egyptian ...

as the Prime Minister of Egypt on 29 January 2011. During the course of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Shafik was named prime minister by then president Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. Shafik's period in office as prime minister was short-lived, lasting just over a month, after he resigned on 3 March due to pressure from protestors and the opposition. They had objected to Shafik staying on as PM, having been seen as one of Mubarak's old guard. Shafik was alleged to have been a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that took over power after Mubarak's departure on 11 February 2011, although initial reporting only reflected a poor understanding of the makeup of the SCAF immediately following Mubarak's fall. Shafik was succeeded by

Essam Sharaf Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf ( ar, عصام عبد العزيز شرف, ; born 1952) is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005. Early l ...

after he stepped down. Shafik resigned from office one day after a contentious interview on the Egyptian ONTV satellite network in which he was confronted by

, author of '' The Yacoubian Building'', on

Reem Maged Reem Maged ( ar, ريم ماجد فوزى السيد أبو زيد ; born 1 January 1974) is an Egyptian journalist and former host of the popular '' Baladna bel Masry'' talk show on Egyptian ONTV. Maged's popularity and renown have dramatically ...

's talk show

Baladna bel Masry Hosted by Egyptian journalist Reem Maged, Baladna bel Masry ( ar, بلدنا بالمصري ) is a daily Egyptian talk show broadcast by Egyptian satellite television network ONTV. The show airs Sunday-Thursday at 8:30pm. The ONTV network bills t ...

. Al Aswany was highly critical of Shafik during the broadcast, representing one of the first televised public criticisms of a high-ranking government official in Egyptian history. At one point, Al Aswany said about Shafik, "if your son had been one of those who got run over by the police cars, you would not have remained silent like that." Al Aswany furthermore accused Shafik of being a holdover of the regime that Egyptians had struggled to topple, and that he was unfit to represent Egyptians in the post-revolution era. On 10 July, Shafik made his first public appearance since resigning as prime minister. He attended the graduation ceremony of the Egyptian Air Force Academy class along with the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

2012 Egyptian presidential election

In November 2011, Shafik announced his candidacy in the Egyptian presidential election. Shafik's candidacy sparked controversy and protest within Egypt, with many considering him to be a holdover of the Mubarak regime. Shafik's remark that he considers former president Hosni Mubarak to be a "role model" was particularly controversial. At one campaign event, a protester hurled shoes at him, although Shafik was not struck. Shafik's candidacy was noted as supported by many in Egypt's

Coptic Christian Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts ar ...

minority who are opposed to Islamist candidates in the election. Along with the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party candidate

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Hamdeen Sabahi Hamdeen Sabahi ( ar, حمدين صباحى, Ḥamdīn Ṣabāḥī, ; born 5 July 1954) is an Egyptian politician, journalist and poet. He is currently the leader of the Egyptian Popular Current and a co-leader of the National Salvation Front. ...

, who finished in third place in the first round of voting, asked for the Egyptian election to be temporarily suspended until an investigation could be carried out. On 28 May 2012, protesters angry at Shafik's advancement to the second round of voting set fire to an office associated with his campaign in

. Fellow candidate

Khaled Ali Khaled Ali (also spelled Khaled Aly; arz, خالد على, ; born 26 February 1972) is an Egyptian lawyer and activist. He is known for his advocacy for reform of government and private sector corruption and for promoting social justice and l ...

said while participating in a protest against the election results in

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...

that Tahrir had "toppled Mubarak, and would topple Shafik". The election contest between Shafik and Morsi had been described as a "choice between two of Egypt's most polarizing politicians", and some activists resorted to participation in a hunger strike to protest his candidacy. Shafik's presidential campaign was characterized by an emphasis on public order and security, and although the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces did not endorse a candidate, American news outlet

McClatchy Newspapers The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...

pointed to the "conspicuous presence of sympathetic security forces at his campaign stops" as evidence of his close relationship with the military. Shafik used his campaign events to court Egyptian elites and voters wary of an Islamist-led government. He reportedly suggested that he would employ executions and "brutal force" to restore order in the country within a month of taking office. Although preliminary election results indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, with Shafik claiming victory in the election. On 24 June, the High Presidential Electoral Commission, headed by Farouk Sultan, announced Shafik's narrow defeat by his bitter rival Morsi, with 48.27% of the vote for the former, compared to Morsi's 51.73%. In the hours following his defeat, it was widely reported that Shafiq and his family flew out to Abu Dhabi, wary of potential charges of financial irregularities and electoral fraud, a move he later confirmed on Sky News. Shafik alleged that the election was flawed; Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud called for an investigation into the claims. In August 2013, former Israeli negotiator

Yossi Beilin Yosef "Yossi" Beilin ( he, יוסף "יוסי" ביילין, born 12 June 1948) is an Israeli politician who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Pa ...

stated that an Egyptian official had told him that the true results of the election were in favor of Shafik, but the military gave the presidency to Morsi out of fear of unrest.

Launch of new political party

Ahmed Shafiq announced that he would launch a new political party, called the

Egyptian Patriotic Movement The Egyptian Patriotic Movement, or Egyptian National Movement ( ar, الحركة الوطنية المصرية) is a political party initiated by former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Abu Hamed, former vice chairman of the Fr ...

, on 24 September 2012.

2018 Egyptian presidential election

On 29 November 2017, Ahmed Shafik announced his intention to run in the Egyptian presidential election, but a few hours later announced that the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

prevented him from leaving its territory after announcing his intention to run in the presidential election which was denied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

Anwar Gargash Anwar Mohammed Gargash ( ar, أنور محمد قرقاش; born 28 March 1959, in Dubai) is an Emirati politician who served as the minister of state for foreign affairs between February 2008 and February 2021. Since February 2021, he serves as a ...

and said in a series of tweets on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, that there was "no obstacle" for Shafiq to leave the UAE, and that the UAE was “sad” to learn that Mr. Shafik was ungrateful. "We facilitated matters for him and we have generously welcomed him, despite our strong reservations about some of his stances," Mr. Gargash wrote. On 2 December 2017, Shafiq was deported from the UAE to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The next day he left France and arrived in Egypt. On January 7, 2018, Ahmed Shafik withdrew his candidacy, announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

published an article in which it confirmed that the withdrawal of former candidate Ahmed Shafiq the day before the official announcement of the elections was based on threats made by the Egyptian government with old corruption charges and an alleged sex tape. The New York Times confirmed having audio recordings from an officer in one of the Egyptian security services, Ashraf al-Kholi, instructing a number of media professionals to put pressure on public opinion on the former candidate and former head of the air force in order to force him to withdraw from the presidential race.

Notes

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shafik, Ahmed 1941 births Living people 21st-century prime ministers of Egypt Egyptian Air Force air marshals Members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Politicians from Cairo Egyptian Patriotic Movement politicians Egyptian Air Academy alumni Candidates for President of Egypt Yom Kippur War pilots Egyptian people of the Yom Kippur War Civil Aviation ministers of Egypt Egyptian political party founders