The Administrative Court on Tuesday annulled an earlier decision by the Presidential Elections Commission to refer a law banning Mubarak regime figures from running for president to the Supreme Constitutional Court to decide on its constitutionality. Elaborating on its verdict, the Administrative Court said the commission had overstepped its authority. In April, military rulers approved a Parliament-issued law that denies political rights for 10 years to officials who served in top posts under ousted President Hosni Mubarak. The law initially prompted the exclusion of Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, from the presidential race, before the elections commission accepted the candidate's appeal and referred the law to the constitutional court. The commission's move stirred debate about whether it had the authority to make the referral. A lawyer raised a case before the Administrative Court calling for the commission's decision to be annulled. The petition argued that the commission has an administrative function rather than a judicial one, and added that constitutional legal challenges should be carried out only through the courts. Essam Sultan, one of the MPs who had championed the law, said in a Twitter message Wednesday that the Administrative Court's verdict obligates the commission to exclude Shafiq from the race again. Shafiq was included in the final list of presidential candidates that the elections commission announced in late April. Edited translation from MENA
