CAIRO - Egypt today witnesses a key historic event as eleven public figures, vying to replace ousted president Hosni Mubarak, are expected to register their names for contesting the first post-revolution multi-candidate presidential poll that will be held on May 23-24. The registration process continues until April 8 and campaigning is scheduled to begin on April 30 and run for three weeks. The candidates, including one woman, will have to collect 30,000 endorsements from at least 15 of the country's 27 governorates, or the backing of at least 30 lawmakers. The candidates, who must be over 40 years of age, do not include a member of the Christian community, which represents about 10 per cent of Egypt's 85 million population. Eligible candidates must not have held dual nationality, and must not be married to a foreigner. Each candidate has to choose a symbol that will appear alongside his/her name on the ballot papers in a country where more than half the population is illiterate. The Muslim Brotherhood, which swept the parliamentary elections few months ago, said it would announce to which candidate their supporters should give their vote 'shortly'. The runners include former foreign minister and Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa, ex-prime minister and air force commander Ahmed Shafiq, ultra conservative Islamist Hazem Abu Ismail, Islamist thinker Selim al-Awwa, former senior member of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood Abdul Monem Abul Futuh, prominent television presenter and pro-democracy activist Bothaina Kamel, the chairman of el-Karama Party, an offshoot of the Nasserist Party, Hamdeen Sabbahi, former senior intelligence officer Hossam Khairallah, Mansour Hassan, the head of the advisory council to Egypt's military rulers and a culture and information minister under the late President Anwar Sadat, Abu el-Ezz el-Hariri, and Khaled Ali. Moussa has once told The Egyptian Gazette that his basic slogan is: "A worthy and decent life for Egyptians." Mansour enjoys support from a number of political parties and may be officially endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood's powerful Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) that controls 51 per cent of the seats of the upper and lower houses of parliament. The campaign is to kick off on April 30 and end on May 21, two days before the vote. If necessary, a second round will be held later on. If no candidate secures a majority in the first round, the two front-runners will be allowed to campaign again between the two rounds. The eleven candidates include Islamists, retired army generals, old regime figures and political newcomers. But, none of them has the power to solve the country's chronic problems or stand up to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has been ruling Egypt since Mubarak's ouster on February 11, 2011. They have also been criticised for a lack of charisma, lack of a clear vision for Egypt's future, being too beholden to the military or too closely associated with the old Mubarak regime. The most notable absence from the field is Nobel laureate and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei. He withdrew from the race, saying a fair election would be impossible under the military's grip. He said the election would likely not bring a real end to the generals' rule. Many activists believe the military wants to ensure that the race produces a president who will support its interests and allow it to have a strong voice in politics even after it formally steps aside as claimed on June 30. Egypt's last four presidents have come from within the top ranks of the military, ensuring that for decades the army remained untouchable. The military has already tried to prevent or limit civilian oversight of its budget under the future system. Under new rules approved in a referendum on March 19, 2011, presidents will be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. Mubarak was ousted shortly before the end of his fifth six-year term. Most of his terms were secured via single-candidate referendums.
