CAIRO: Candidates seeking to run in Egypt's presidential election will need the support of 30 members of parliament or 30,000 citizens, according to a draft of a presidential election law, details of which were published by the state news agency on Thursday. The draft also allows any party with at least one elected seat in parliament to field one of its members for the post, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, citing the draft. The new rules for the election due in June will replace old conditions in place during Hosni Mubarak's era and which effectively ruled out any realistic challenge to his rule. The army council, which has ruled Egypt since Mubarak was ousted in February, has pledged to hand over powers to the elected president by the start of July and return to barracks. MENA said the draft had been presented to the army's newly appointed consultative council for review. The 30,000 signatures supporting a presidential candidate must include people from at least 15 of Egypt's 27 provinces, MENA said. Mubarak, now being tried over the killing of protesters and abuse of power, was serving his fifth six-year presidential term when he was ousted by a popular uprising. For most of his three decades in office, his presidential terms were preceded by a single candidate referendum, which he always won with crushing majorities. Egypt held its first multi-candidate race in 2005, which Mubarak won, although the rules meant there was no significant challenger and the vote was marred by widespread abuses.
