Egypt's election commission disqualified 10 presidential hopefuls, including the country's ex-spy chief and key Islamists, from running in a surprise decision that threatened to upend the already tumultuous race.This is terrible news for democracy in Egpyt and across the entire Middle East. It reminds me of the disqualifying of candidates in Iran and we know what a sham their elections are.
The article also states:
Many observers had been looking to Saturday's announcement for a decision about whether Abu Ismail ... would be disqualified over the question of whether his late mother had dual Egyptian-US citizenship. A new election law bars an individual from running if the candidate, the candidate's spouse or parents hold any citizenship other than Egyptian.This part is truly incredible. The idea that the citizenship status of your parent's or spouse beggars belief and is a real impediment to democratic participation. Unfortunately it appears that the promise of the Arab Spring is being slowly whittled away in Egypt.
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