Egypt court 'to rule on Shafiq poll ban'

2012-05-28 22:04

Cairo - Egypt's top court is expected to rule on 11 June in a key case examining the constitutionality of a law barring Mubarak-era officials from running for office, the Al-Ahkbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Citing unnamed judicial sources, the newspaper said "the Supreme Constitutional Court will rule on the constitutional challenge to the political isolation law on June 11".

The case could have serious implications for Mubarak's former premier Ahmed Shafiq, who is expected to compete in a second-round presidential run-off against the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Mursi five days after the court ruling.

He was initially barred from standing in the presidential race, the first since Mubarak's ouster in a 2011 uprising.

But in late April, Egypt's electoral commission accepted an appeal from Shafiq against the ban and ruled that he could stand in the key race.

The so-called political isolation law was adopted by the Islamist-dominated parliament in April, and was intended to ban the candidacy of all senior Mubarak-era officials.

Shafiq, a general and former civil aviation minister, was named premier in the final days of Mubarak's three-decade rule last year.

- AFP