Egypt’s election authority restructured under new head Hazem Badawi

CAIRO – 4 October 2023: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has issued a decree restructuring the National Election Authority (NEA) with the country gearing up for presidential elections by the end of the year.

The presidential decree appoints five counselors, including a new head, as members of the election authority after some NEA members have completed their tenure.

As per the decree, Hazem Badawy, Deputy Head of the Court of Cassation Hazem Badawi will chair the election authority, succeeding judge Waleed Hamza whose tenure ends on Sunday, 8 October.

This comes as Sisi appointed Hamza last June to complete the tenure of late head of the NEA Lasheen Ibrahim.

The new composition of the NEA will also include Mohsen El-Dardeery, Mahmoud Rasheed, Abdel Hamid Nagashy and Hany Gadallah, succeeding Yasser Al-Mabady, Murad Fekry, Abdel Salam Mahmoud and Mohamed Abu Deif.

Who is Hazem Badawi, new NEA head?

Chancellor Hazem Badawy, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Law since 1985, joined the public prosecution immediately after graduation.

He progressed through various positions in the public prosecution offices of North Cairo, Giza, Aswan, Luxor, and others before being appointed to the Public Prosecution of the Court of Cassation for five years.

He later served as a member of the technical office of the Court of Cassation also for five years.

Badawy headed the criminal group at the Court of Cassation’s technical office before being nominated by the court’s general assembly in 2008 as a counselor in the court.

He was then promoted to the position of deputy head of the Court of Cassation in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed as an Assistant to the Minister of Justice for Specialized Courts.

Presidential elections

Egyptians will cast their votes in the 2024 Presidential Elections on 10-12 December 2023 locally, while eligible voters living abroad will vote on 1-3 December.

Incumbent President Sisi announced on Monday his plans to run for another term in the upcoming elections during the Story of a Homeland conference.

Besides Sisi, several leading figures from renowned political parties have also announced plans to run for elections, including Head of Egypt’s liberal Constitution Party (Al-Dostour) Gameela Ismail.

Ahmed El-Fadaly, chairman of the Democratic Peace Party; former MP Ahmed Tantawi, the former head of Al-Karama (Dignity) Party; and Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, are also among the potential candidates.

Moreover, Head of Al-Wafd Party Abdel Sanad Yamama and Hazem Omar, head of the People’s Republican Party have secured the required endorsements to run in the elections.

Check the full timetable of the 2024 Presidential Elections from here.