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Court says Egypt’s presidential election to be held on time

12 May 2012 23:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A high administrative court ruled Saturday that Egypt’s presidential election would be held as scheduled, overturning an earlier ruling, APA reports.

Last week, a lower court ruled that the presidential poll, scheduled for May 23-24, should not go ahead. It said the call for the election should have been issued by the ruling military council rather than the electoral commission.

Saturday’s ruling said the law regulating the presidential elections authorized electoral officials to call on citizens to vote for their next president, state media reported.

Egyptians living abroad began voting on Friday in their country’s first presidential elections since a popular revolt removed Hosny Mubarak from power more than a year ago.

Last year an Egyptian court gave expatriates the right to vote for the first time ever at diplomatic missions in their countries of residence.

Thirteen contenders are running in the polls. The frontrunners include Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister; Abdul-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, a liberal Islamist; and Mohammed Mursi, a senior official in the powerful Muslim Brotherhood.