Source: Mostafa Rachwani | The Guardian
Ahmed Ouf, a pharmacist from Egypt, says local election success means he can take Blaxland from Jason Clare
Brimming with confidence after barrelling his way on to Cumberland council, Ahmed Ouf has his eyes on a bigger prize: the historically safe federal Labor seat of Blaxland.
“Labor didn’t believe I could get on to the council but I proved them wrong,” he says. “And we are confident we will to do it again. I’m not here to shake a narrative, or to swing a seat, I believe I can win.
“You need someone with an accent in Canberra. You need someone with dark skin, an immigrant, someone from a minority, who is independent and can speak freely, in Canberra, representing this area.”
Ouf is the second independent to declare candidacy for a Labor seat in western Sydney after Dr Ziad Basyouny announced he would challenge Tony Burke for Watson.
Blaxland, just like Watson, is a safe Labor seat, held by the party since its inception in 1949 and most famously represented by the former prime minister Paul Keating from 1969 to 1996.
