Will Gamal Mubarak be prevented from running in Egypt’s presidential election?

A lawsuit that is being heard before the Administrative Court of the State Council demanding that the family of former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak be prevented from running for any state position, sparked widespread controversy and opened the door to many questions.

The lawsuit was filed by the director of the National Centre for Supporting Citizenship and Human Rights, Abdel Salam Ibrahim Ismail, weeks before the announcement of the timeline for the upcoming presidential election. Social media was filled with posts about the legal position of the son of the late President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak, in terms of running in the next Egyptian presidential election, especially after posts published by his brother, Alaa Mubarak, in the past weeks.

It should be noted that the Egyptian Presidential Elections Law stipulates that the President of the Republic shall be elected by direct, general secret ballot from voters whose names are registered in the voter database, that every voter must exercise this right themselves, and that whoever is running for President of the Republic is required to meet the following conditions:

1. They must be an Egyptian citizen, born to Egyptian parents

2. Neither they nor their parents or wives should have dual nationality

3. Must be a bachelor’s degree holder

4. Have their civil and political rights

5. Must not have committed any felony or crime involving an immoral act or dishonesty. If convicted, he must have been exculpated

6. Must have performed their military service or have been exempted by the law

7. Must not be younger than 40 years old on the day of candidacy

8. Must not be suffering from any physical or mental illness which would hinder performing his official presidential duties

According to the law, point number five decides Gamal Mubarak’s eligibility for the position, as the Court of Cassation issued a judgement in 2016, to maximum security prison for three years for both Gamal and Alaa Mubarak. They were convicted of appropriating about 125 million Egyptian pounds (about $4 million) of the presidential palaces’ finances.

READ: Online campaign launches to urge Mubarak’s son to run for Egypt president