Former NDP members will be allowed to run in parliamentary elections

Egypt's Higher Administrative Court has ruled that members of the now-dissolved ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) will be able to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The elections are expected to take place in November, and will be the first in decades following former president Hosni Mubarak's departure in February.

Many former members of the Mubarak regime have already joined other parties and registered to run as independents. The decision to overturn Friday's ruling by a court in the northern Nile Delta city of Mansoura was anticipated. The second ruling set off a number of lawsuits across Egypt aimed at preventing former NDP members from standing in the elections.

Anti-government groups have been fighting to ensure that those they see as associated with Mubarak's 30 year rule are kept out of politics. Mubarak and many of his cronies are currently on trial or in prison on corruption charges and ordering the shooting of protesters during the uprising.

The vote, commencing on 28th November, is expected to elect an assembly which will appoint a committee to write a new constitution.

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, BBC News

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