Admin. Court confirms Mousa’s eligibility to run in election

CAIRO –21 February 2018: The Cairo Administrative Court rejected the appeal that challenged the legal eligibility of the presidential candidate Moussa Moustafa Mousa to run in the upcoming election.

Earlier in February, Lawyer Tarek al Awady came forward to the Supreme Administrative Court to impugn the validity of the candidacy of Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party Chairperson Moussa Moustafa Mousa since he has not obtained a certified university or higher education degree, which is a key requirement for candidates running in the presidential election.

Moussa had previously announced that he obtained a foreign degree which has a value greater than any other degree that can be obtained locally.

In his interview with well-known anchor Wael el-Ebrashy for Al Ashera Masa’an (10 pm) TV program which airs daily on Dream TV, Mousa said that he holds an MA in architecture from a French university and it has been already certified by the Foreign Ministry.

Awady told Egypt Today that the certificate he obtained was for some courses he had taken in architecture from France in 1981 and got certified by the Foreign Ministry in 2010. “If that certificate amounts to be a proper equivalent of a higher education degree, he definitely would have used it when he obtained it, not 29 years later.”

He also added that the Supreme Administrative Court will expectedly issue its final decision in this regard within the following 10 days.

“Moreover, Al-Ghad’s Moussa is not actually eligible to enjoy his civil rights, given the fact that he has been previously convicted of dishonorable offences, including robbery and the issuance of dud checks," Awady pointed out.

The potential candidates who announced that they will run in the election were all bowed out, except for former Military Chief of Staff Samy Anan who was kept out of the race by the Armed forces which released a statement regarding his disqualification.
Shortly after, Lawyer Khaled Ali announced his withdrawal decision.

Also, former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik was amongst the prominent potential candidates, announcing his intention to run for president in the upcoming 2018 election before he abruptly changed his mind and announced his withdrawal from the race.

On January 26, two days after President Sisi submitted his candidacy papers to the National Election Authority; the President of Al-Wafd Party announced his intention to run in the 2018 election before his party came out in unanimous support to President Sisi.
According to the election’s timetable set by the NEA on January 8, voting in the 2018 presidential election in Egypt will commence on March 26.
Sixty million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the election between March 26 and 28 in Egypt, while Egyptians living abroad will vote between March 16 and 18.