The nation’s columnists are focused on Ahmed Shafik’s withdrawal of his candidacy and what it means for this year’s presidential elections. Shafik’s candidacy should never have been taken seriously, especially due to the bizarre circumstances surrounding it and the unconvincing reasons he gave for withdrawing, says Al Masry Al Youm’s Soliman Gouda. Regardless of his intentions, the criticism Shafik faced during his short-lived bid just goes to show that Egypt’s political environment is not receptive to the concept of challenging the status quo, Tarek El Shenawy says in the same paper. But what Shafik’s detractors fail to realize is that having a pluralistic election is actually in everyone’s favor, Al Shorouk’s Mohamed Esmat points out. Meanwhile, Youm7’s Asmaa Moustafa says that there are no viable alternatives to incumbent President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, and that his critics should offer serious competitors rather than criticize his policies.