Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, ranked the first with 12 percent in a presidential poll released on Saturday.

The former Arab League chief Amr Moussa ranked the second with 11 percent in the poll conducted by the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

Moderate Islamist Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotouh, Muslim Brotherhood' s (MB) political arm Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Chairman Mohamed Morsi, and Hamdeen Sabahi came neck-and-neck in third, with seven percent for each, followed by Khaled Ali with one percent.

Titled as "Who is the nearest to win the presidential race," the poll indicated that Shafiq was Muslim voters' first choice, followed by Moussa who might get most votes of Christians.

Just a few days ahead of the presidential election, Shafiq pledged to modernize the Egyptian society where all citizens will enjoy equality without discrimination, particularly for women and Coptics.

After meeting with the National Women Council (NWC) on women's rights and the election, Shafiq said at a press conference that " all criteria of citizenship should be applied without any double standards based on gender, race or religion."

Shafiq said he would respect all rights of women and Coptics, promising that his deputies would include one woman and one Copt.

Ranking the second in the polls, Amr Moussa, who served for 20 years as foreign minister in Mubarak's era, is intensifying his efforts to win over swing voters.

He said the coming president must be a statesman who has liberal and international background, as the people aren't waiting for a president who comes to learn the tasks of his post. He stressed the Islamic law as the first source for jurisdiction, and other religions should be governed by their own laws.

As for the Egypt-Israel relations, Moussa reaffirmed his respect for the Peace Accord, but added that he disagrees with some Israeli policies, particularly the occupation and settlement polices.

Meanwhile, Moussa is against any political adventures that may lead to deterioration in relations with the United States.

The first presidential election since Mubarak was toppled last year is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, with preparations undergoing to guarantee integrity and transparency.

Secretary General of Egyptian Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) Hatem Bagato said at a press conference Saturday that the commission has finalized all arrangements to facilitate the electoral process.

He added HPEC granted licenses to three foreign organizations and 49 local ones to observe the upcoming elections, in addition to 2,859 media groups.

"The commission has decided to appoint one judge for every ballot box to avoid confusion such as that of recent parliamentary elections," Bagato added.

"There are more than 50 million Egyptian voters inside Egypt. To guarantee their inborn rights, the commission will deploy 14, 500 lawyers nationwide," said Bagato, adding that there will be 1, 200 female lawyers designed to help female voters inside the voting stations.

Bagato added the police and the armed forces are closely coordinated to secure the voting process, with strict measures to prevent cheating.