Egypt announces list of presidential candidates
Egypt's electoral commission announced the list of presidential candidates on Thursday. Ahmed Shafiq, the premier appointed by president Hosni Mubarak just before his overthrow last year, was included after the committee reversed an earlier decision to exclude him on Wednesday.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Egypt-announces...
The front runners are Amr Moussa former Arab League President and Foreign Minister and Mohammed Morsi the Muslim Brotherhood's leader who replaced the disqualified Khairat Shater.
Other candidates also include Hamdeen Sabahi, a left wing pan-Arabist, and Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist who was expelled from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The elctoral commission chairman Farouq Sultan said that campaigning for the May 23-24 election begins on April 30.
The presidential elections have become a contest between secularists hampered by their links to the previous regime and the islamists who already have a majority in both houses of parliament. They have however not been able to reverse the electoral bans on Khairat al- Shater of the Muslim Brotherhood who was disqualified or the salafist cleric Hazem Abu Ismail despite renewed street protests.
They have also been unable to counteract the dismissal of the constitutional committee where they also held a majority They reached the limits of their power when they demanded that the Supreme Army Council, (SCAF) dismiss the Ganzouri cabinet and replace them with members of the the Freedom and Justice Party. SCAF refused. The islamists have not had it all their own way recently. A new consitutional commission to draw up the consitution is to be appointed.
Egypt's worsening economic situation may encourage voters to consider Amr Moussa who would certainly attract international investor confidence if he were elected president.
However such considerations have given way to nationalist popular sentiment in the legislative elections and they may well do so in the presidential contest. Scaf has promised to hand over power following the presidential elections in June.The electorate may also be weary after a very long drawn out election process often punctuated by demonstrations which have often turned violent.
Other candidates also include Hamdeen Sabahi, a left wing pan-Arabist, and Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist who was expelled from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The elctoral commission chairman Farouq Sultan said that campaigning for the May 23-24 election begins on April 30.
The presidential elections have become a contest between secularists hampered by their links to the previous regime and the islamists who already have a majority in both houses of parliament. They have however not been able to reverse the electoral bans on Khairat al- Shater of the Muslim Brotherhood who was disqualified or the salafist cleric Hazem Abu Ismail despite renewed street protests.
They have also been unable to counteract the dismissal of the constitutional committee where they also held a majority They reached the limits of their power when they demanded that the Supreme Army Council, (SCAF) dismiss the Ganzouri cabinet and replace them with members of the the Freedom and Justice Party. SCAF refused. The islamists have not had it all their own way recently. A new consitutional commission to draw up the consitution is to be appointed.
Egypt's worsening economic situation may encourage voters to consider Amr Moussa who would certainly attract international investor confidence if he were elected president.
However such considerations have given way to nationalist popular sentiment in the legislative elections and they may well do so in the presidential contest. Scaf has promised to hand over power following the presidential elections in June.The electorate may also be weary after a very long drawn out election process often punctuated by demonstrations which have often turned violent.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Egypt-announces...