[ 2012-04-15 ]

Egypt ruler meets politicians amid election turmoil
CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt's military ruler will hold
talks with political leaders on Sunday after next
month's presidential election was thrown into
further turmoil with the disqualification of key
candidates.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi will meet the heads
of political parties and groups to discuss major
developments five weeks ahead of the first
presidential election since a popular uprising
ousted long-time leader Hosni Mubarak last year,
the state-owned Al-Akhbar reported.

On Saturday, Egypt's election commission said that
10 of the 23 registered presidential candidates
had been barred from the race, including ex-spy
chief Omar Suleiman, Muslim Brotherhood candidate
Khairat El-Shater and popular Salafist politician
Hazem Abu Ismail.

Commission official Tarek Abul Atta told AFP that
Suleiman had been disqualified because he failed
to get enough endorsements from 15 provinces as
required under the law.

Shater, who was released from prison in March last
year, was barred because of a law stating that
candidates can only run in elections six years
after being released or pardoned, Abul Atta said.

Shater, who was deputy chairman of the Muslim
Brotherhood -- banned under Mubarak -- had been in
jail on charges of terrorism and money
laundering.

Abu Ismail is out of the race because his mother
holds another nationality, violating election
rules which state that all candidates, their
parents and their wives must have only Egyptian
citizenship.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF)
headed by Tantawi, which took power when Mubarak
was ousted, will also examine a law passed by
parliament that would ban members of the former
regime from standing for office.

If approved, the law could also see Ahmed Shafiq
-- Mubarak's last prime minister -- excluded from
the race.

The military council will also discuss a recent
court ruling suspending an Islamist-dominated
panel that was tasked with drafting the country's
new constitution.

The SCAF has promised to hand power to civilian
rule in June after a president has been elected.

Source - AFP

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