 CAIRO - Egypt’s electoral commission announced on Thursday the final list of 10 candidates who are to run in the country’s first contested presidential poll next month, including veteran President Hosni Mubarak. There are no independents, women or members of Egypt’s Christian minority among the 10.
| 'cause they're not Egyptian enough ... |
| There's nobody but Hosni who's liable to win, either... |
The most prominent runners include Mubarak, the head of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) who will seek a fifth six-year mandate, and his two main rivals: Ayman Nur from Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) center-right party and Numan Gumaa of the liberal Wafd party.
| Wonder what the election night map looks like? I assume Mubarek is green ... |
The candidates will be the first to run against a sitting president in Egypt’s history, in line with changes to the constitution approved by a referendum in May to allow multi-candidate presidential elections. Until now Egyptians had only been able to say yes or no to a single candidate appointed by parliament, which is dominated by Mubarak’s NDP.
| Convenient, the way that worked. If the public had ever said no, they'd have just had another election with the same candidate so they could reconsider... |
However, opposition parties have said the reform does not go far enough because it severely restricts independent candidates and overwhelmingly favors Mubarak’s party by requiring would-be independents to obtain 250 signatures of elected national or local officials. Around 100 independent candidates who submitted application forms were rejected because they failed to meet the signature requirement. Egypt’s political institutions are completely largely dominated by Mubarak’s NDP. In addition, twenty party leaders or officials were excluded by the commission owing to irregularities or disputes over the party’s leadership. Party leaders are exempt from the 250 signature requirement but all candidates must be over 40 years of age.
| Hosni's got that covered twice... |
Each candidate had to choose the symbol that will appear alongside their names on the ballots in a country where more than half the population is illiterate.
| For some reason the liberal guy has to have a six-pointed star next to his name ... |
Mubarak got the coveted moon crescent while Nur, who had wanted the same logo, had to settle for the palm tree. Gumaa opted for the torch. The other runners include a bunch of guys you've never heard of before and don't care about anyways. The campaign is to kick off on August 17 and end on September 4, three days before the vote. If necessary, a second round will be held on September 17. |