Egyptian Court Suspends Presidential Elections - East Idaho News
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Egyptian Court Suspends Presidential Elections

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GETTY N 110211 LawGavelCourt?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1336640469205Hemera/Thinkstock(CAIRO) — A possible political crisis in Egypt is in the making after presidential elections scheduled for later this month were suspended on Wednesday.

Citing various errors in the law that include not giving the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) ultimate powers to call for elections, a lower administrative court halted the vote planned from May 23 and 24.

Egypt has existed in a power vacuum since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office in February 2011 and a military council has ruled the country, much to the chagrin of Egyptians desperate for free and open elections.

The military council had stated before the court ruling that the elections would go off as scheduled.  An appeal to a higher court in Cairo could overturn that decision as soon as Thursday.

Amr Moussa, a one-time Arab League chief, and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, are considered frontrunners in the race.  They each decried the ruling to suspend the election.

If the original election dates are reinstated, a runoff vote will be held on June 16 and 17 in the event that no single candidate wins an outright majority, with Egypt’s next president formally named four days later.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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