A recent court ruling could pave the way for opposition leader Ayman Nour to run for president, Mona El-Nahhas reports On 25 May the Cassation Court ordered a retrial of Ayman Nour, founder of the liberal Ghad Party, accused of forging the party founders' proxies, for which he was sentenced in 2005 to five years. The court referred Nour's petition, in which he asked for a retrial, to one of its panels to decide where and when Nour would be retried. Nour predicts a retrial within a week. Last month, Nour presented to the Cassation Court all the documents which, he said, proved his innocence. During the break-in of the dissolved state security apparatus in the wake of the 25 January Revolution, a document related to Nour's case was found which reportedly proved that the case was fabricated. In 2010, the Administrative Court found that Nour's arrest was illegal, which meant that the jail term passed against him was invalid. In addition, one of the witnesses who in 2005 testified against Nour, backtracked on his testimony, claiming that he himself was forced by state security to forge the founders' proxies in order to send Nour to jail. Celebrating the verdict, Nour's supporters, who thronged at the headquarters of the Cassation Court from the early hours of the morning, organised a march from the court to the downtown headquarters of the Ghad Party. At a press conference held after the court's decision, the Ghad founder welcomed the ruling to retry him, saying it was the first step to declaring his innocence. "It's time we recapture our rights which were lost during the era of the former president," Nour told reporters, adding that the decision "was another blow to the previous regime and its policies of oppression against its opponents by fabricating cases against them." Nour was jailed in December 2005 shortly after he finished second to deposed president Mubarak in Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential elections. Nour insisted that the case against him was fabricated with the aim of undermining his political future and excluding him from the political scene. He was reportedly viewed by the former regime as constituting a direct threat to Gamal Mubarak's plans to inherit power from his father. Behind bars, Nour contested the ruling passed against him. In 2006, the Cassation Court backed the jail verdict issued by the criminal court. Despite the jail term and the smear campaign, Nour kept criticising the former regime. In February 2009, he was released on health grounds, something which did not clear his criminal record. By means of the law, Nour was deprived of his political rights, due to his conviction in an honour- related crime. Nour told Al-Ahram Weekly that last week's ruling legally meant the scrapping of the previous jail term passed against him. According to Nour, the legal barrier which banned him from practising his political rights no longer exists and that he can now easily take part in any polls. Nour, who seems confident of proving his innocence, said he would start his electoral campaign for the presidency immediately, and would continue his "knocking on doors" campaign, which he started in 2009 following his release. He will launch political tours covering all of Egypt's governorates "to guarantee solid public ground". Nour's intention to run in the polls as a presidential candidate representing the Ghad Party was officially announced last month. He said his decision was made after the party higher council named him as the Ghad presidential candidate. Nour's electoral programme, which offers economic, social and political solutions to Egypt's illnesses, relies, he said, on his former experience in parliament. Before losing his parliamentary seat in the 2005 elections, Nour had served as an MP for two successive terms. Restructuring the Ghad, which was deeply split by power struggles and internal disputes reportedly instigated by the former regime, tops Nour's priorities now and ahead of the September parliamentary polls. Beside seeking to increase the number of the Ghad branches in Egypt's provinces, Nour intends to form the Ghad coalition, which would include a number of liberal parties, together with the Ghad. While inaugurating a new branch of the Ghad Party in Alexandria last month, Nour pledged to double wages and salaries within six months if he became president. He also said he would draw up a fair taxation system and form a coalition government that would comprise all political affiliations "to help build Egypt in the coming era". With serious presidential competition from Mohamed El-Baradei and Amr Moussa, Nour's battle to become president is uphill. While admitting that the competition would require him to double his efforts, Nour said he believed his previous experience in the 2005 presidential polls will be of great help.
