The Road to Presidential Elections [Update 4]

With voting in Egypt’s second presidential elections in two years expected to take place on May 26 and 27, EgyptSource will be providing periodic updates on the latest news coming out of the Egyptian elections process.

Presidential Elections Law

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As the two sole candidates in Egypt’s early presidential elections prepare electoral platforms and campaigns, the Administrative Court of the State Council will make its decision on the law governing these elections on April 29.

The court could refer the law to the Supreme Constitutional Court for its review, but constitutional expert Raafat Fouda told Daily News Egypt that this is improbable, and the case will likely be dismissed.  “When they made [the PEC] immune, they closed any judicial door” allowing for the law to be challenged, he explained.

Candidates

Former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi are the only two presidential hopefuls who successfully submitted their applications before the April 20 deadline.

One day prior to the deadline, lawyer Mortada Mansour withdrew from the race despite his claim that he had already collected 20,000 signatures. Mansour said he would rather see Sisi win, adding that his decision came after receiving a “sign from God” that the former defense minister would win the race.

Campaigns

While neither campaign has officially announced its platform, information about Sabbahi’s and Sisi’s plans have leaked.

Sabbahi Campaign: Shorouk published details on Sabbahi’s campaign, which includes a project focusing on solar energy, unemployment, traffic, the development of Upper Egypt, and more. More details on the platform can be found here.

On Wedensday, Sabbahi met with leaders of the liberal Dostour Party, who had earlier announced their support for the Nasserist candidate. Following the meeting, the party issued a statement saying they had agreed to “immediately begin coordination” in regards to Sabbahi’s presidential nomination.

Sisi Campaign: Sisi’s campaign on the other hand, is reportedly scaling back, in order to avoid accusations of over-expenditure. The campaign will include four executive members: Amr Moussa, who headed the constitutional committee tasked with drafting Egypt’s new constitution, Mahmoud Karem, former Egyptian ambassador to Japan, EU, NATO, Belgium and Luxembourg.The remaining two members have yet to be announced.

The youth committee in Sisi’s campaign has also been formed, and among its members is Tamarod co-founder Mahmoud Badr.

Monitors

The Presidential Elections Commissions announced it has granted permission to six international civil society groups to monitor the elections, without elaborating on who these groups are. The PEC is looking into another 120 requests. The European Union and Arab League had both earlier announced they would be monitoring the elections.

Bassem Youssef On Hiatus

Bassem Youssef’s satirical show, El Bernameg had announced a hiatus expected to begin at the end of April. While Youssef downplayed the break, MBC, the channel on which the show appears, described it as mandatory break that will last until May 30, so as not to influence voters in the presidential elections.

Candidate Symbols

In the 2014 presidential elections, candidates will be able to choose from fifteen symbols. Five new symbols have been added: an eagle, watch, plane, telephone, and eyeglasses. Previously used symbols include  a lion, horse, sun, star, palm tree, scale, rooster, and umbrella. The eagle was added to the list due to a request submitted by Hamdeen Sabbahi’s campaign, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to use it. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi submitted his application to the PEC first, and so will be given first choice on the symbol to be used by his campaign.

Image: Photo: Ahmed Abdel-Fatah