CAIRO—Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday withdrew his candidacy from Egypt's coming presidential race in protest over the autocratic governance that has persisted under Egypt's post-revolutionary military leadership. Though Mr. ElBaradei wasn't considered among the top contenders for presidential elections scheduled for this spring, his global stature makes his pullout a symbolic blow to the military leadership and its often faltering stewardship of the country's transition to democracy. Mr. ElBaradei's statement on Saturday marks the highest-profile censure of the military's governance since a leading group of generals, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, assumed power from...