Egypt to open presidential nominations on March 10

Nominations for Egypt’s presidential election will be accepted from March 10, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, a member of the supreme committee for presidential elections said on Monday. Ibrahim added that the preparations would start once elections for the Shura council, or upper house of parliament, ended later this month. He said the decision followed pressure from political groups to speed up the transfer of power to civilians. He also said that the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, had called for a quick completion of the election procedures. “Field Marshal Tantawi stressed the need for quick completion of these procedures and their announcement,” the Egyptian state news agency reported after Tantawi met the head of the constitutional court.