The 10 candidates banned from taking part in next month’s presidential elections in Egypt lost their appeals Tuesday, according to media reports.
The candidates were banned from the race last Saturday for a variety of mostly technical reasons. According to the judicial panel, all of their appeals were rejected because the candidates had not provided any new evidence, the BBC reported.
All three front-runners were on the list of disqualified. They include Egypt’s former spy chief Omar Suleiman, leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Khairat al-Shater, and Orthodox Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. Opposition leader Ayman Nour was also banned.
The outcome of the May 23 and 24 elections will see a power transfer from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to the new president. The army had assumed power over the country after former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February last year.
