Registration for Egypt's presidential race opens

CAIRO - Candidates of Egypt's first presidential election since toppling Hosni Mubarak started on Saturday to register their names for the race that will be held on May 23 and 24.

The registration process continues until April 8 and the presidential campaigning is planned to begin on April 30 and run for three weeks. The list of presidential candidates will be announced on April 26.

Any political party with at least one elected seat in the parliament can field one of its members for the post.

Eligible Egyptian citizens who get the support of no less than 30 parliament members or 30,000 citizens can submit applications of presidential candidates to the commission. Those 30,000 signatures must include people from at least 15 of Egypt's all 27 governorates.

Potential presidential candidates include former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, former Muslim Brotherhood top official Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik.

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) said it would not nominate a candidate but would support one. The MB's Freedom and Justice Party won the most seats and the posts of speakers in both lower and upper houses of parliament.

The newly-elected president will be announced on June 21.