BICOM

Egypt’s election commission yesterday disqualified ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq from running for president because of a law that bans senior officials from the deposed Hosni Mubarak regime from running for office.

The electoral commission’s decision came after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power on Mubarak’s overthrow in February last year, approved a bill adopted by the Islamist-dominated parliament earlier this month banning the candidacies of all senior Mubarak-era officials.

Shafiq’s elimination all but guarantees that Egypt will be led by a president who does not hail from a military background for the first time since army officers overthrew King Farouk in 1952. The ex-air force commander was seen by some as the preferred choice of the ruling army generals when he first decided to run.

The disqualification could help former Arab League chief Amr Moussa in a race against his Islamist rivals, as it narrows the options for voters who do not want an Islamist head of state. The other two prominent frontrunners are the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, Mohammed Mursi, and former Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh.

SCAF chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi’s ratification of an amendment to the political rights law was approved by parliament on 12 April, and was announced by state media yesterday. The official MENA news agency said the amended law “bars any president, vice president, prime minister or leader or (senior member) of the now-dissolved National Democratic Party from exercising political rights for 10 years.”

The electoral commission is due to publish a definitive list of candidates on Thursday. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for 23 and 24 May and the SCAF has promised to hand power to an elected civilian president by the end of June.