Egypt’s Court to Decide On Political Isolation Law, June 14

Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court announced Wednesday that it will judge on June 14 the constitutionality of the political isolation law that may disqualify Ahmed Shafiq from the run-off of presidential election, official news agency MENA reported.

The announcement was made after mass demonstrations swept the country, calling for the disqualification of Shafiq.

The political isolation law, passed by the People’s Assembly (lower house), targets officials linked to ex-president Hosni Mubarak’s leadership over the past 10 years. The law was approved by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The constitutional court will also consider appeals submitted by the administrative court on the unconstitutionality of some laws passed by the parliament which allowed some candidates to be nominated both in the party-list system and as individuals in the parliamentary elections.

In the first round of the presidential vote kicked off on May 23, Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Morsi and Shafiq got the first and second place respectively. A run-off between them is to be held on June 16 and 17.