CAIRO - Egypt will open nominations on April 15 for the first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising last year, a member of the ruling army council told a television channel late on Sunday. The army has pledged to hand power to civilians after a presidential vote in June, although protesters have demanded that the ruling military council quit power sooner. General Mohsen Fangary made the comments to an Egyptian television channel that were shown on its website www.el-balad.com. Mubarak won Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential vote in 2005 that was marred by abuses and held under rules that prevented any realistic challenge to the incumbent. Sayed el-Badawi, the head of the liberal Wafd party, said after a meeting of political groups last week a referendum on the new constitution would be held on May 15 and a presidential vote on June 20, in line with a previously announced army timetable.
