egypt-final-presidential-elections-2012

The Carter Center
Presidential Election in Egypt
Figures 5, 6, 7: Evolution of Candidate List
Figure 5
Figure 6
Preliminary Candidates (April 9, 2012)
Party Nominated Voter Signatures MP Endorsed
12
6
Total Candidates:
23
PEC Candidate Exclusions (April 14, 2012)
Invalid Signatures Criminal Criteria Parental Nationality Invalid Party Nomination
1
2
5
Figure 7
2
Total Exclusions:
10
Provisional Candidates (April 17, 2012)
Party Nominated Voter Signatures MP Endorsed
Total Provisional
Candidates: 13
In the final deliberation over the appeals received,
the PEC upheld all 10 of the exclusions, announcing
a provisional list of 13 candidates for the presidency
on April 17, 2012, as shown in Figure 7.
Some of these disqualifications were controversial.
FJP/Muslim Brotherhood favorite Khairat al-Shater
and liberal former presidential candidate Ayman
Nour were disqualified for past criminal convictions.
Both candidates were reportedly unable to have
their criminal records expunged, and the legal status
necessary to be candidates restored, at the time of
the nomination process. The underlying convictions
in both of these cases, however, were widely seen to
8
8
3
2
be politically motivated convictions of the Mubarak
era. Candidate Hazem Abu Ismail, a popular Salafi
leader, was disqualified following an investigation by
the PEC that uncovered that Abu Ismail’s mother
had applied for and obtained U.S. citizenship shortly
before her death.
It should be noted that the PEC appeared to
adhere to the letter of the law in rendering these
decisions, even though some may question the fairness
of the law itself in these particular disqualification
cases. In cases like those of Shater and Nour,
The Carter Center recommends that lawmakers
and the courts review the procedures for expunging
criminal records, including rehabilitating the legal
status of Egyptians convicted of crimes who wish to
run for political office, particularly so that candidates
that may have been disqualified due to politically
motivated “crimes” may regain their eligibility as
expeditiously as possible. This will ensure that candidates
do not unfairly or unjustly have their right to be
elected revoked, as would contradict Egypt’s international
commitments. 99 The Carter Center also would
encourage Egyptian leaders to reconsider the prohibition
against Egyptians running for president whose
parents have ever held non-Egyptian nationality or
whose spouse is a non-Egyptian. The candidate runs
for office, not his or her family, and it should be left
to the electorate to weigh this and other information
about candidates when deciding for whom to vote.
After the provisional list of candidates was
announced, an amendment to the Law on the
Exercise of Political Rights was ratified by the SCAF
and came into effect on April 24. 100 The amendment,
known colloquially as the Political Exclusion Law,
sought to exclude any person who had served in
certain senior positions of the Mubarak regime during
the past 10 years. This amendment directly affected
one of the presidential candidates, Ahmed Shafiq, a
99 U.N., ICCPR, Article 25(b); AU, African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, Article 13(1)
100 Law No. 73 of 1956
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