Hatem Bagato, secretary general of the Presidential Elections Commission, said the commission is ready to apply the law banning former regime members from running in the elections if it is passed by Parliament. “We will abide by any law, even if it is retroactive, provided that it is issued by a competent body, be it Parliament or the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in his capacity as president,” Begato said. “Until then, those who have worked for the former regime remain rightful candidates.” He also said the commission will carefully examine all cases, and will deal impartially with all candidates, adding that the commission found duplicate signatures collected by some candidates, which would be discarded. On Monday, the commission said it would accept challenges to its initial list of candidates on Tuesday and Wednesday, and would notify those who have not met the conditions on 12 and 13 April, to allow them to file appeals on 14 and 15 April. The People's Assembly's Proposals and Complaints Committee approved on Monday a bill amending Presidential Elections Law 123/2011 by adding a clause banning former regime figures from running for president, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported. The amendment was proposed by MP Essam Sultan, vice president of the Wasat Party, during a parliamentary session on Sunday. The approval came at the end of discussions attended by Minister of Manpower and Immigration Fathy Fekry, the newspaper said, adding that the draft was amended per the suggestion of MPs Amr Hamzawy and Mohamed al-Beltagy. According to the bill, those who served in leading government in the five years leading up to Mubarak's resignation are banned for ten years from running for the posts of president, vice president, prime minister and government minister. Included are those who were presidential staff, security, parliament members and ruling party officials. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
