Egypt presidential elections set for May

CAIRO, March 1 (UPI) -- Egypt's junta will live up to its pledge to transfer power to civilian rule in June by holding presidential elections in May, an election official said.

The May 23-24 election would be the first presidential vote since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted Feb. 11, 2011.

It would also be the second presidential election in Egypt's post-monarchy history with more than one candidate on the ticket. The only other presidential election with more than one candidate was the criticized 2005 election, which Mubarak won with 88.6 percent of the vote.

Six candidates who have stepped forward so far include Mubarak's final prime minister and a former senior Egyptian air force commander, Ahmed Shafiq, and former Mubarak Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, most recently the Arab League's secretary-general.

Candidates, who must formally register their candidacies from March 8 through April 26, must have been born in Egypt to Egyptian parents, not hold dual citizenship and not be married to a non-Egyptian, rules established by the military rulers state.

Candidates will be allowed to campaign from April 30 through May 20.

If no candidate wins more than half the vote, the top two candidates would face each other in a runoff June 16 and 17, Supreme Committee for Presidential Elections head Farouk Sultan told reporters Wednesday.

Egyptians abroad can vote the week before the election, provided they register on a government Web site from Monday through April 4, Sultan said.

The military rulers had been hesitant to declare an election date and a transition to civilian rule, The Washington Post reported.

But after a week of bloody clashes in November, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Chairman Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's de facto ruler, declared the military would give up power by the end of June.

The president's powers have not yet been decided.

A 100-member assembly, to be named by the Parliament, must write a new Egyptian Constitution first, which would then be put to a public vote before the president assumes power.

Some liberals and activists fear the generals will influence the document's drafting, the Post said.