Post-revolution Egypt chooses its president on May 23

Al Arabiya News

Egypt’s presidential election will be held over two days starting May 23, the state election committee said on Wednesday, as the country’s military rulers prepare to hand power to civilians after last year’s overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

A run-off vote will take place on June 16 and 17 and final results will be released on June 21, the committee’s head Farouk Sultan told reporters.

The military has faced street protests and widespread demands that it hand power to civilians sooner than the end-June deadline that it had set itself.

Sultan told a media conference that Egyptians abroad will be allowed to cast their absentee ballots from May 11 to May 17.

Run-offs will be held on June 16 and 17 and the winner will be announced on June 21, he said, in keeping with a timetable set by the military rulers to hand power to an elected president before the end of June.

Sultan added that there would be no international monitoring of the presidential election, the first since an uprising in February 2011 ousted Mubarak, the country’s dictator of 30 years, and left power in the hands of the military.

Earlier this month, the judicial committee had postponed a date for the vote.

The Supreme Council for Armed Forces (SCAF) which took over from Mubarak in February last year has faced street protests and widespread demands they hand power to civilians sooner than the end-June deadline they had set themselves. Judges committed to meet the army’s deadline.

Several hopefuls have already announced they plan to run for office, including former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and ex-Muslim Brotherhood member, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh. The current Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi was mooted as a consensus candidate, but he has said he has no such plans.

Last month, a panel charged with advising the military council had proposed to hold the landmark elections on May 16, a month earlier than the June deadline set by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, according to AFP.

Attempts at bringing forward the date come amid a series of nationwide rallies demanding the ouster of the SCAF. Activists accuse the junta of mismanagement of the transition, of human rights violations and of stifling freedoms.

There is a widespread belief that the SCAF will attempt to retain some sort of power after the transition.

Many analysts see Moussa as the front-runner but say much will depend on what kind of backing he can secure from the Muslim Brotherhood, which emerged as the biggest bloc after a parliamentary vote. Some politicians say they want a candidate who will also have the army’s nod of approval.