CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian appeals court ruled Monday that
leaders of the former ruling party of ousted President Hosni Mubarak
will not be barred from running for elections, opening the door for old
regime figures to return to the country’s stifled political scene.
The
decision by the Cairo Appeals Court for Urgent Matters overturns an
earlier ruling that banned leaders of Mubarak’s National Democratic
Party from taking part in any elections.
The party was dissolved
following the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011. A number of the
party leaders formed new parties, while others joined existing ones.
In
2012, an Islamist-dominated committee drafting the country’s new
constitution pushed an article in the charter that bars the NDP leaders
from taking part in political life for 10 years. Following the ouster of
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the article was scrapped when
amendments were made to the charter.
The appeals court said Monday
the lower court had no jurisdiction to bar people from running for
elections. At the time, the lower court didn’t define what constituted
being a party leader.
Observers are predicting former NDP members
will make a strong comeback in parliamentary elections expected later
this year, because they still have strong family and tribal networks and
a tight system of patronage developed during the Mubarak years.
The
country’s other most powerful political force, the Muslim Brotherhood,
was declared a terrorist organization by the government. The
Brotherhood’s political party is facing litigation calling for its
dissolution. Security forces also went after the group’s leaders,
imprisoning thousands of its members and accusing it of waging a violent
campaign against the government.
The Brotherhood denies it adopts
violence and is keeping up protests against the government, accusing it
of orchestrating a coup.
Mohammed Mahsoub, a leader of the
Islamist party al-Wasat and a member of the Brotherhood-led coalition,
wrote on his Twitter account that the return of the Mubarak party
leaders to politics "is a restoration of the unjust and corrupt state."
Newly
formed liberal parties have made only limited inroads on the political
scene, failing to galvanize popular support or form alliances that can
challenge the two traditional powerhouses.
Furthermore, a newly
passed election law favors candidates running as individuals, not on
party lists, giving former ruling party figures and local notables an
advantage in the coming elections. The new election law states that 420
seats of the nearly 600-member parliament will be elected as
independents, with 120 chosen from party lists.
Liberal and newly formed parties are campaigning against the law, demanding a greater proportion be
chosen from party lists.
"The
current electoral system is biased in favor of the rich in society,
lawmakers with tribal and traditional associations in rural Egypt and
businessmen," said a statement last week signed by six liberal and
leftist parties and a number of public figures.
The law
"marginalizes the multiparty system in Egypt because it promotes
personal traits of individual candidate at the expense of political
affiliation, thus impeding the country’s democratic transformation," it
said.
The parties said they have not received any response for the calls from the president, who currently
holds legislative powers.