Egyptian ex-Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has been given green light for the presidential election set on May 23 by the Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC), official news agency MENA reported.

After hearing Shafiq's appeal for the earlier decision to ban him from the upcoming presidential election, the HPEC accepted his appeal, allowing him to re-join the race, MENA reported.

The commission also decided to present the bill passed by the parliament which bars former regime figures from exercising their political rights in the next ten years to the Supreme Court for constitutionality check.

Egypt's ruling military ratified the bill on Monday night, in a bid to prove there is no support for a specific presidential candidate from the former regime.

Based on the bill, the HPEC disqualified Shafiq from running for presidency on Tuesday, making former Foreign Minister and Arab League chief Amr Moussa one of the few competitive secular candidates.

The final list of presidential candidates will be announced on Thursday. Ten out of 23 candidates had already been disqualified due to various reasons.

The presidential vote is scheduled for May 23 and 24, with the run-off on June 16-17. A power transfer to a civilian government is due by June 30.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet