Will last 2 hours before closing candidacy door see more candidates?

CAIRO – 29 January 2018: Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA), headed by Judge Lasheen Ibrahim, will stop receiving application forms from potential candidates for the 2018 presidential election on Monday January 29, 2018, at 2 PM.

Two hours away from closing the candidacy door, no potential candidates, except for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, can compete for Egypt’s presidential election due in March, as he is the only one who finished submitting his candidacy papers to the NEA.

Sisi's presidential campaign submitted his presidential candidacy papers to Egypt's National Elections Authority's headquarter in Cairo's Downtown early Wednesday.

The official spokesperson of Sisi's presidential campaign, Mohamed Bahaa Abu Shoka, presented to the NEA Sisi's presidential candidacy papers, including public endorsements from citizens and from parliament members.

Chairperson of El-Ghad Party, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, is expected to submit the documents required for the presidential candidacy to the National Election Authority (NEA) during the next two hours.

Moussa underwent on Sunday the medical examination needed to assess his physical and mental conditions; he is getting "ready" for the 2018 presidential bid against incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, according to Moussa's statements to Egypt Today on Monday.

Sources told Egypt Today earlier that Moussa received endorsements from 26 Members of Parliament- the majority of them represent Monufia Governorate- in order to announce his official presidential bid.

Moussa vowed that he will resume projects and achievements that Sisi has begun and carried out throughout his first term in office. "I was a sincere supporter to Sisi, but now Sisi has become my contender."

On January 26, and two days after President Sisi has submitted his candidacy papers to the National Election Authority, president of Al-Wafd Party Badawi announced his intention to run in the 2018 presidential election; however, a day later, Al-Wafd Supreme Committee announced its refusal of Al-Badawi's nomination in the coming presidential elections.

Lawyer Khaled Ali was among the other few prominent candidates before he made a decision not to contest the upcoming election after the Armed Forces released a statement showing the disqualification of his then-competitor ex-Military Chief of Staff Samy Anan.

Parliamentarian Mortada Mansour and nephew of assassinated Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, Esmat al-Sadat were also among those who reversed their decision to run in the upcoming presidential election set to begin on March 26, 2018.

In a surprising move, on November 29, 2017, former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik made public statements of his intention to run for president in the upcoming 2018 election before he abruptly announced his retreat from the race.

The NEC previously announced that presidential candidates will have a ceiling of LE 20 million to spend on their electoral campaign in the first round, while they are only permissible to spend LE 5 million in the run-off round.

The NEA approved 48 local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to observe the 2018 presidential election, as they met the conditions set out by the NEA.

Forty local organizations and four international NGOs, in addition to the National Human Rights Council and the National Council for Women, will be distributed among different governorates to observe the upcoming presidential election that will take place in March.

The presidential election was set to take place on March 26-28, with a possible run-off scheduled for April 24-26. If no run-offs are necessary, the winner will be announced on April 2.

The final list of the candidates will be announced on February 24; the deadline for any candidate to retreat will be on March 1. The primary results of the first round of the election will be announced on March 29, when decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, will be made.

If no candidate obtains the majority of votes, a three-day run-off round will commence in Egypt on April 24, and on April 19 abroad. The name of the winning candidate is set to be announced on May 1.