(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Egyptians have taken to the streets to demand the ban of the ousted regime’s last prime minister from standing in the country's run-off election.
Fearing reemergence of the toppled dictatorship under Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians gathered in Cairo's iconic Liberation Square after Friday prayers to oppose former premier Ahmed Shafiq's presidential bid.
The protest came on what the protesters dubbed "Friday of determination," a week ahead of the June 16-17 run-off where Shafiq will face Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Morsi.
“Ahmad Shafiq calls Mubarak his role model and was involved in the camel battle during the revolution,” said one protester, recalling violent attacks on revolutionaries by Mubarak supporters riding on camelback.
After years of military rule backed by the West, Mubarak finally stood down in February 2011, releasing his three-decade grip on power.
“We want to implement the Political Isolation Law against the remnants of the former regime because Egypt can't move forward unless it erases all traces of the corrupt regime that ruled for the thirty years,” another protester said.
He was referring to a bill that bars ex-regime members from holding political office. The “Political Disenfranchisement Law” is being examined by the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, with a verdict expected on June 14.
If passed, the law would push Shafiq out of the presidential race and pit Morsi against former lawmaker, Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the first round.
Protesters on Friday also voiced anger at the lenient verdicts handed over to Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adli, less than a week ago.
The court gave life sentences to the two but acquitted six police chiefs charged over the killing of protesters during the revolution.
Mubarak also faced separate charges of corruption along with his sons Alaa and Gamal. But the charges were dropped.
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Fearing reemergence of the toppled dictatorship under Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians gathered in Cairo's iconic Liberation Square after Friday prayers to oppose former premier Ahmed Shafiq's presidential bid.
The protest came on what the protesters dubbed "Friday of determination," a week ahead of the June 16-17 run-off where Shafiq will face Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Morsi.
“Ahmad Shafiq calls Mubarak his role model and was involved in the camel battle during the revolution,” said one protester, recalling violent attacks on revolutionaries by Mubarak supporters riding on camelback.
After years of military rule backed by the West, Mubarak finally stood down in February 2011, releasing his three-decade grip on power.
“We want to implement the Political Isolation Law against the remnants of the former regime because Egypt can't move forward unless it erases all traces of the corrupt regime that ruled for the thirty years,” another protester said.
He was referring to a bill that bars ex-regime members from holding political office. The “Political Disenfranchisement Law” is being examined by the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, with a verdict expected on June 14.
If passed, the law would push Shafiq out of the presidential race and pit Morsi against former lawmaker, Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the first round.
Protesters on Friday also voiced anger at the lenient verdicts handed over to Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adli, less than a week ago.
The court gave life sentences to the two but acquitted six police chiefs charged over the killing of protesters during the revolution.
Mubarak also faced separate charges of corruption along with his sons Alaa and Gamal. But the charges were dropped.
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