Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court today announced that they have overturned a lower court ruling banning members of Hosni Mubarak’s banned National Democratic Party from participating in the parliamentary election, saying that the ban on the NDP did not mean a ban on NDP members, who have formed a number of new parties.
The military junta had previously promised to pass a law banning those members of the old regime found to be involved in corruption, but so far such a law hasn’t actually been passed. The opposition factions had been keen on seeing the Mubarak remnants either banned or significantly limited in the roles in the new election.
Without Mubarak as a leader, the NDP splintered quite significantly, and while a lot of them ended up in new splinter parties and good chunk of their parliamentarians are hoping to run as independents. This too has become an issue, with efforts in the opposition to limit the number of independent MPs which can be elected.
But given the convoluted nature of the new system of elections it is unclear how much room the various opposition factions involved in the anti-Mubarak revolution will have to participate in government anyhow, and the junta seems set to retain most of the nation’s power for years.