Ahmed Shafiq has no problem with Omar Suleiman's running for president, the former prime minister said Saturday.

Egypt's former intelligence chief Suleiman surprised many by backtracking on an initial decision not to enter the presidential race. Suleiman was closely associated with ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

Shafiq said in a television interview last month that he might step aside if Suleiman decided to run, but his campaign denied Friday that he would abandon the race to win Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections.

“I welcome the decision of Suleiman to run for president,” Shafiq said Saturday.

“Suleiman’s decision underlines the richness of the civic Egyptian current that seeks to protect the identity of the nation,” the statement added in an implicit reference to Islamists, who now dominate both houses of parliament following the January 2011 uprising.

“That would be achieved with leaders who are capable of overseeing a smooth transition to democracy,” he added.

Suleiman was the first vice-president to serve under Mubarak, promoted to the position days before Mubarak's ouster in an attempt to placate protesters who accused Mubarak of being an autocrat. Suleiman left the political scene when Mubarak stepped down.

Shafiq, a former civil aviation minister, was the last prime minister to be appointed by Mubarak. Pressure from protesters after Mubarak's ouster led to his being replaced by then-Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

The first round of the much anticipated presidential elections will take place 23-24 May.