The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party posted on its Facebook page that secretary general of the Presidential Elections Commission Hatem Bagato is a relative of presidential candidate Amr Moussa, which Bagato has confirmed.
The site said Bagato’s mother is a cousin of Moussa’s mother.
“This is nonsense,” said Moussa, “And I shall not respond to it.”
Bagato told the “Egypt Decides” talk show on the privately-owned Al-Hayat channel Monday that he would resign if anyone filed a complaint against him, but told Al-Masry Al-Youm the next day that he would not.
“Moussa’s mother is the cousin of my mother’s grandfather,” he said.
Bagato declined to comment whether the party brought this issue up in response to the commission potentially excluding its candidate Khairat al-Shater from the presidential race.
Brotherhood lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud wondered why Bagato has not resigned, but ruled out filing a complaint against him.
The Presidential Elections Commission’s decisions are immune according to Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration issued in March 2011.
The article grants the commission immunity against challenges of its decisions, which has sparked criticism from legal experts who questioned the fairness of elections held under the article.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
