Egypt presidential election 'set for June'

Wasif Chudhary




AFP - Egypt's first presidential elections since a popular uprising ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak a year ago will be held in the first week of June, officials were quoted as saying on Sunday.

Egyptian authorities are due to officially announce the timetable for the presidential election later on Sunday.

"The election will start in the first days of June and will end in the last week of June if there is a run-off," Ahmed Shams El-Din, a member of the presidential election committee told the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Presidential hopefuls will have three weeks starting March 10 to register their candidacy, after which there will be campaigning for 45 days.

Last month, a panel charged with advising the military council had proposed to hold the landmark elections on May 16, a month earlier than the June deadline set by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Attempts at bringing forward the date come amid a series of nationwide rallies demanding the ouster of the SCAF. Activists accuse the junta of mismanagement of the transition, of human rights violations and of stifling freedoms.

There is a widespread belief that the SCAF will attempt to retain some sort of power after the transition.

The military has been the backbone of Egyptian politics since the fall of the monarchy in 1952, and every president since has emerged from the top ranks of the armed forces.