Supporters of Hazem Abu Ismail continued their sit-in in Tahrir Square for the fourth day in a row to protest Abu Ismail's exclusion from the presidential race.
They held several marches expressing their demands, which included the dissolution of the Presidential Election Commission, the abolition of Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration that says the decisions of the commission are final and cannot be challenged, and the release of political prisoners, reported the state-owned wire service MENA.
Abu Ismail’s supporters flocked the square on Thursday to protest a decision by the commission that excluded him on the grounds that his mother held foreign nationality. Under Egypt's election rules, both of a candidate's parents must be Egyptian and hold no other citizenship.
Abu Ismail, an ultra-conservative who preaches a strict interpretation of Islam, had emerged as one of the front-runners in the first presidential vote since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
The populist sheikh's followers accuse Western countries and Egypt's ruling generals of trying to eliminate him from next month's ballot, worried by his push to impose Sharia. They held a mass protest last Friday.
Hatem Bagato, chairman of the Presidential Election Commission (PEC), on Sunday said the supporters of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who was excluded from the elections, considered the the members of the commission infidels, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
“They also claim his exclusion was a conspiracy with the United States,” he said, adding that the commission cannot make such a decision without supporting documents. “Let them sue the United States if they believe so.”
“They tried to storm into the building,” he said. “One of them tried to assault me while I was coming out.”
“I respect Abu Ismail, but I work according to the law,” he said.
Bagato also said that the commission met with leaders of the Salafi Movement after the exclusion decision. “We wanted them to hear our side of the story and relay it to their followers,” he said.
He said the commission did not yet decide to file a lawsuit against Abu Ismail on charges of fraud. “All options are on the table,” he said. “we must preserve the prestige of the commission and the judiciary."
