Bye Bye ElBaradei

The democracy advocate and international diplomat has ended his campaign for the Egyptian presidency.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and former frontrunner Mohamed ElBaradei has withdrawn from Egypt’s presidential race. According to an announcement from his campaign, ElBaradei feels the democratic system in place is merely symbolic and that the interim military government is distancing the country from the goals of its revolution. ElBaradei played a key role in the ousting of Hosni Mubarak after calling for a campaign of political reform in 2010. He has since seen discouraging results in local elections where Islamist parties have dominated. Though he will no longer run for office, the former International Atomic Energy Director and diplomat will continue to work with Egyptian youth to secure freedom and social justice in the region.