Mahmoud Fawzy, spokesman of a technical committee in charge of amending Egypt's election laws, said the committee will finish drafting amendments for two laws on Tuesday – the 1956 law on the exercise of political rights and the 1972 law regulating the performance of the House of Representatives, Egypt's lower house parliament.
A number of Egyptian political figures abroad are currently establishing the first official opposition coalition under the name "The National Democratic Council".
According to Freedom and Justice Party official and former MP Khaled Mohamed, a founding member of the coalition, there are two candidates for leading the coalition: Dr Mohamed Mahsoub of Al-Wasat Party and Dr Ayman Nour of the Ghad al-Thawra Party.
Egyptian Defence Minister Colonel General Sedky Sobhi assured Saturday that the armed forces are capable of guaranteeing successful presidential elections, fulfilling the second phase of the post-July 2013 political roadmap, reported Al-Ahram Arabic website.
In 2012, 13 candidates competed in the first round of Egypt's presidential election. In retrospect, the race offered the most diverse political palette yet. Turnout saw a drop of over 20% from the parliamentary elections just months earlier, yet the variety of candidates offered insight into what Egyptians identify with and what they are willing to sacrifice or accept when facing tough choices. The second round was a nightmare scenario for the majority, who had to choose between the extremes of each camp: pro-state and Islamist.
A branch of the April 6 Youth Movement, once a leading revolutionary youth group and now outlawed by interim authorities, said on Wednesday it opposes former army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's presidential candidacy but has not yet decided whether or not to boycott the upcoming poll.
El-Sisi, whose popularity skyrocketed since he led the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last summer, is highly tipped to win the 26-27 May presidential election, running against only one rival, Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 elections that Morsi won.
More than four decades after his death, Egyptian nationalist leader Jamal Abdul Nasser is immensely popular in the country as the ‘man of the poor’ due to his socialist policies.
Nasser, an ex-military officer, is fondly remembered as Egypt is bracing for presidential elections contested by only two contenders. Supporters of both ex-army chief Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and his leftist challenger Hamdeen Sabahi portray their favoured candidates as the new Nasser.
Egyptian presidential frontrunner Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi appreciated Saudi Arabia for its support to Egypt and its people.
In the first ever television interview, the former army chief said Saudi Arabia would be the first country that he will visit as the president of Egypt if he wins the elections slated for May 26-27, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Egyptians should not expect instant democracy or rapid economic reforms, but should pull together for shared sacrifice. That is the sober message being delivered by Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the general who toppled Egypt's first freely-elected leader last year and is now poised to be elected president later this month.
Egyptian expatriates in the Gaza Strip on Thursday urged the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs to allow them to cast votes for the presidential elections on May 15.
Members of the Egyptian community in Gaza told Ma'an that they were urging their foreign ministry to establish a mechanism through Egypt's central elections commission to allow them to cast votes.
About 7,000 Egyptian nationals in the Gaza Strip are eligible to vote but not outside Egypt.
The electoral race in Egypt took off between the two candidates, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahi. Compared to the 2012 elections, which were marked by strong competition, variety and surprise, this race is strange, given its coldness, lack of variety and perhaps competence. In fact, the electoral campaigns of the candidates reflect these confusing characteristics and disrupt the democratic transition process, while reconfirming the persisting division and polarization in society.
A Cairo court banned, on Tuesday, members of the now-dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) from running in parliamentary, municipal or presidential elections.
The African Union will send a mission to monitor the upcoming presidential elections, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, while the Arab League announced that its mission will monitor elections in over 22 governorates across Egypt.
The African Union observer mission will include more than 50 parliamentarians, journalists and civil society representatives from various African countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said in a statement by the Foreign Ministry Wednesday.
The mission will be headed by “a high level African personality,” Abdelatty added.
The African Union will send a mission to monitor the upcoming presidential elections, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, while the Arab League announced that its mission will monitor elections in over 22 governorates across Egypt.
The African Union observer mission will include more than 50 parliamentarians, journalists and civil society representatives from various African countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said in a statement by the Foreign Ministry Wednesday.
The mission will be headed by “a high level African personality,” Abdelatty added.
An Egyptian court has banned officials from the country's former ruling party under ousted President Hosni Mubarak from running in elections.
The ban comes as Egypt prepares for presidential elections later this month. Former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi - who removed Islamist president and Mubarak's successor, Mohammed Morsi - is poised to win that vote.
Egyptian presidential front-runner Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi Monday appeared to rule out reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, raising the specter of a prolonged conflict with a group he said was finished.
Sisi, who ousted the Brotherhood's Mohammad Morsi from the presidency last July after mass protests against Morsi's rule, accused the Brotherhood of links to violent militant groups, adding that two plots to assassinate him had been uncovered.
Chairman of the Salafist Nour Party Younis Makhyoun said in press statements that he submitted a list of 400 of jailed members of his party to the prosecutor general who promised to release them "if they had not participated in pro-Morsi protests."
Makhyoun said that the Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat requested the names of the detainees to make sure none of them took part in protests.
