EGYPT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The decision taken by the Egyptian Constitutional Court ahead of the presidential election runoff this week-end has added to the already confused and turbulent political landscape. The first of the decisions was the rejection of the objection to Ahmet Shafik's candidacy, which means that Shafik may run in a presidential election, and the second was the dissolution of parliament.

Egypt presidential elections
Posted 15.06.2012 11:06:51 UTC
Updated 15.06.2012 11:06:51 UTC

Hundreds of people in the capital Cairo and Alexandria protested against the decisions of the high court. Presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi has qualified the latest developments as a conspiracy and urged everyone to go to the polls to cast their votes to complete the revolution.

Some 40 million registered voters in Egypt will go to more than 10 thousand polling boxes across the country at the week-end to elect the first president of the post-Mobarak era. Although there are only two candidates, Egyptians seem rather undecided and uncertain .

The Interior Ministry has stressed that extraordinary security measures have been taken for the elections but the latest developments give the impression that Egypt is back to the 31-year state of emergency era lifted only a couple of days ago. Intelligence officials, the military and police officers have been entitled to take people into custody and interrogate. Check-points reinforced with armoured vehicles have been set up at some important places such as the Ramses square.