The Lucky (?) 13

Egypt's bizarre Presidential circus is finally (supposedly) official: there are 13 approved candidates. When I last touched on the story, Ahmad Shafiq was being disqualified. He was in fact disqualified, but then a court ruled he was back in the race. Assuming that stands, the 13 are profiled here by the BBC.

Frankly, the ups and downs of the race so far have undercut at least some of the credibility of the election, and it's only just now officially beginning. Egyptians have a long history of elections conducted with the government's thumb on the scale, so skepticism is natural. The elimination of three popular front-runners, even if many are relieved to see them gone, doesn't help the credibility. Let's see what happens.