Presidency to hold conference on Sisi’s achievements

CAIRO – 14 January 2017: Sources told Egypt Today that the presidency will hold a three-day conference starting Wednesday in order to display the president’s achievements since he assumed office in June 2014 till present.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will answer citizens’ questions in the conference that will take place in one of Cairo’s hotels. A campaign was launched on January 10 through January 15 for citizens to send their questions on the Facebook page “Ask the President.”

That is the third edition of “Ask the President” campaign. The first was in April 2017 during the third National Youth Conference in Ismailia governorate, whereas the president received 172,000 political, economic, and social questions from citizens, according to Ahram online.

The second took place in the closing session of the fourth National Youth Forum that was held in Alexandria in July, 2017, whereas citizens posted 300,000 questions.

The conference will conclude one day before potential presidential candidates start submitting their applications to the National Electoral Commission (NEC). Three potential candidates announced they would run for office so far; these are rights lawyer Khaled Ali, former Chief of Staff Sami Annan, and lawyer Mortada Mansour.

Sisi is the sixth president of Egypt. He was elected president in June 2014 after the revolution of June 30, which toppled former President Mohamed Morsi, who is affiliated with the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The NEC announced on Monday January 8, the 2018 Presidential Elections timetable. Potential candidates are allowed to submit their applications between January 20 and 29. The final list of candidates will be announced on February 24.

Voting will take place for three days starting March 26 domestically, while it will begin on March 16 for expats from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in each country’s local time. The winning candidate will be announced on April 2.

According to Article 140 of the Egyptian Constitution, electoral procedures should begin a minimum of 120 days before the end of the current presidential term and the president-elect should be announced a minimum of 30 days before the end of the previous president’s term. The current presidential term will end in June 2018.

Electoral procedures consist of receiving and scrutinizing applications and appeals, as well as setting the electoral lists and campaign regulations.

The National Elections Authority is an independent institution running all types of elections and referenda in the country, currently chaired by Chancellor Lashin Ibrahim Mohamed, who also serves as vice-president of the Court of Cassation.

Egypt’s National Electoral Commission launched an official website for both the parliamentary and presidential elections. The new website aims to publish all the resolutions and recommendations pertaining to the elections, in addition to the voting guides for Egyptians inside and outside Egypt.