Egypt sets May 23 for presidential vote

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Egypt sets May 23 for presidential vote

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Egypt election authorities have set a May date for its first-ever free presidential election.

01 March,2012 04:28 am

Egypts presidential election will be held over two days starting May 23, the state election committee said on Wednesday, as the countrys military rulers prepare to hand power to civilians after last years overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.A run-off between the top two contenders will take place on June 16 and 17 if no candidate wins outright in the first round and final results will be released on June 21, the committees head, Farouk Soltan, told reporters.The military has faced street protests and widespread demands that it hand power to civilians sooner than the end-of-June deadline it had set itself and intense speculation has surrounded the date of the vote.The committee said 21 days of campaigning would begin on April 30. Some candidates have already been touring the country to drum up support, including former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and ex-Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abol Fotoh.The first election inside of the country will take place over a period of two days -- Wednesday, the 23rd of May, 2012, and Thursday, the 24th of May, 2012. The end of vote counting and conveying the voter turnout to the Presidential Election Commission will be on Saturday, the 26th of May 2012, said Soltan.The Muslim Brotherhood, the once-banned Islamist movement that was Mubaraks chief political rival, has taken a dominant position in Egypts new parliament but has not said who it would back for the presidency.Current Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby is mooted as a consensus candidate, but said he has no such plans.The vote is seen as the first genuine contest for head of state since the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952 ushered in a succession of strongman leaders drawn from the military.Controversially, the election committee said that there will be no right of appeal after the final election result is announced, in accordance with a constitutional declaration.