A COURT ruled today that leaders of ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) cannot run in any presidential, parliamentary or city council elections.

The decision of the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters, which applies to this month’s presidential election, is binding until a higher tribunal issues a final verdict on the matter.

NDP supporters remain implanted in positions of influence within the state despite the party’s dissolution just months after Mr Mubarak’s removal in the 2011 popular uprising.

The presidential election on May 26-27 is all but certain to return former military commander Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who says that restoring stability and bringing development are his political priorities.

He told a TV interview shown late on Monday night that the Muslim Brotherhood would never return as an organisation, accusing it of using militant groups as cover to destabilise the country.

Asked whether the Brotherhood would no longer exist under his presidency, Mr Sissi replied: “Yes. Just like that.

“It’s not me that finished it. The Egyptian people have. The problem is not with me.”

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies won every major election following the 2011 removal of Mr Mubarak, dominating the parliament and capturing the presidency under Mr Morsi.

But a disastrous year in power saw millions of people successfully demand an end to the new administration.

Mr Sissi’s only opponent in the race is veteran left-Nasserite politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the third-place finisher in the 2012 election won by Mr Morsi.