Egypt MPs bar ex-regime members from office

Egyptian parliament approved a bill that prohibits senior figures of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for public office. After passing the bill on Thursday, lawmakers said that it would bar “any president, vice president, prime minister or leader of the now-dissolved National Democratic Party from exercising political rights for 10 years.” The bill is said to be designed to ban several former senior officials, including Mubarak's spy chief Omar Suleiman and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, from running in the country's upcoming presidential elections. However, the law has yet to be approved by Egypt's ruling military council before coming into force. The polls are scheduled to be held in two rounds. The first would be held over two days on May 23 and 24, while a run-off, if necessary, would take place on June 16 and 17.

Final results are expected on June 21