• 14:55
  • Thursday ,17 September 2015
العربية

Steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz excluded from preliminary list of election candidates

By-aswatmasriya

Home News

00:09

Thursday ,17 September 2015

Steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz excluded from preliminary list of election candidates

Politician and business magnate Ahmed Ezz was excluded from the initial list of approved candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections on Wednesday. 

His lawyer, Mohamed Tanwir said Ezz is considering an appeal. 
 
This is second time Ezz is excluded from running. He had applied to run for a seat in parliament last February, before the elections were postponed based on a court order.
 
Ezz, a prominent politician during the era of former president Hosni Mubarak, had presented his candidacy papers on Thursday. 
 
Egypt's parliamentary elections are due to be held over two phases in October and November. 
 
Towards the end of Mubarak's 30-year-rule, Ezz had taken centre stage because of his political and business activities. 
 
He once served as head of the policies secretariate in the now defunct National Democratic Party, the ruling party under Mubarak.
 
He came to be known as a steel tycoon after chairing Ezz Steel, which monopolised the steel sector in Egypt. 
 
Ezz was arrested after the 2011 uprising which toppled Mubarak. Charges were brought against him in five different court cases.
 
He was handed several prison sentences which were overturned by Egypt's Court of Cassation. 
 
He was released in August 2014 after being ordered to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in fines for monopolistic practices.  
 
Last month, a court upheld a decision to seize the assets of Ezz and his family until an investigation on the sources of his wealth is completed.