CAIRO, 5 August 2005 — The Higher Presidential Election Committee said yesterday credentials have been received from 90 independent presidential candidates and representatives of nine political parties.
All candidates planning to join the country’s first direct multi-candidate presidential elections have to present their credentials to the commission before Aug. 4 and eligible candidates will be declared before Sept. 1.
A spokesman for Egypt’s election committee, Osama Atawiya said that four people had been refused registration. Three were under 40, which is the minimum age requirement set by the law, whereas the other man, Abboud Al-Zumr, was still in prison for his part in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat and had failed to complete the due agreement with his lawyer.
Among the 99 candidates are current President Hosni Mubarak, leader of the Al Ghad Party, Ayman Nour, leader of Egypt’s oldest party Al Wafd, Noaman Gomaa, and leaders of Al Takaful, the socialist Misr, Al Shab Democratic Party and Al Ahrar parties.
Egyptian lawyer, Ashjan Ahmad Al Bukhari, has presented her credentials to the committee, becoming the first woman to join the race which for the first time in the country’s history is open to more than one candidate. Bukhari’s decision to present her candidature follows the withdrawal of another woman, the author Nawal Saadawi, who first announced she would run, but later pulled out of the race calling for a boycott of the elections.
Some observers have raised doubts over whether the electoral commission will accept Bukhari’s candidature, noting how presidential hopefuls for their bid to be declared valid need to win the approval of at least 250 elected national or regional representatives, of whom at least 65 must be members of the Assembly of the People parliament which contains 444 members.
Besides President Mubarak, who announced his candidature last week, and is widely expected to win the contest, Nour, the leader of Egypt’s main opposition party, Al Ghad, has also announced his intention to stand while another key opposition figure, Nouaman Jumua, of the Wafd party is expected to announce his candidature before yesterday’s deadline.
According to the constitution, independent candidates have to get the support of 250 members of Parliament and local legislative assemblies. Political parties which were registered not less than 5 years ago can also nominate their candidates.
Ghad’s leader Nour accused Mubarak of stealing his campaign symbol: the Islamic crescent. “The National Democratic Party (NDP) knew the importance and value of the Islamic crescent in Egypt so they gave it to Mubarak though I chose it before he did,” said Nour. “They also put his name on the top of the candidate list though I was the first to register,” he told Arab News.
Officials at the NDP, however, said Mubarak’s lawyer, Muhammad Dakrori, registered first “and chose the crescent before anyone did.”
