(Adds details, quotes)
CAIRO, April 25 (Reuters) – The last prime minister to serve
under deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been allowed
to re-enter the race for the presidency, one day after electoral
authorities disqualified him, the state news agency reported on
Wednesday.
“The presidential electoral committee headed by Farouk
Soltan accepts the appeal of former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq,
allowing him to contest the presidential race,” MENA reported.
Shafiq was disqualified on Tuesday after the ruling military
council approved a new law drawn up by the Islamist-dominated
parliament denying political rights to anyone who served as
president, vice president or prime minister in the decade prior
to Mubarak’s fall in February last year.
“The decision to accept my client’s appeal proves that the
electoral committee functions as an independent body according
to the rule of law,” Shafiq’s lawyer, Shawqi Sayyid, said.
The electoral committee also decided to refer the new law to
the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether the law
was constitutional or not.
Presidential elections are set for May 23 and 24 with a run
off scheduled in June.
(Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
