Egyptian Parliament passed on Thursday a legislation forbidding officials who served under the regime of Hosni Mubarak from presidential poll candidacy.

Egyptian Parliament passed on Thursday a legislation forbidding officials who served under the regime of Hosni Mubarak from presidential poll candidacy.

The bill aimed at thwarting the candidacy of all those who served as head of the Egyptian intelligence, including Omar Suleiman, who was Mubarak’s vice president during the final days of his rule.

However, the measure would need to be approved by ruling military council, and it was unclear what stance the council would take on the bill.

The legislation, an amendment to the law governing political rights, would also block the candidacy of anyone who served as a prime minister in the decade prior to Mubarak’s removal from power. That would rule out Ahmad Shafiq, who is also running.

The bill however, did not cover former ministers, meaning it would not affect leading liberal contender Amr Moussa, Mubarak’s foreign minister for a decade until 2001, and the former chief of Arab League.

The presidential election gets under way on May 23 with two days of voting expected to be followed in June with a run-off between the top two candidates.