Who cannot run for Egypt’s presidential election?

CAIRO - 19 January 2018: As the third Egyptian presidential election since 2011 is due to take place in March, Egypt Today lists the crimes which prevent any potential candidate from running officially in the presidential election according to the political rights practice law.

Here are the crimes that bar someone from running for the presidency:

1. A person who has been sentenced a final judgment issued by the Court of Values against the confiscation of their funds.

2. A person who has been dismissed from government service, the public sector or the public business sector for committing a crime against honor or trust.

3. A person who has been sentenced to for engaging in fraudulent activity or negligence.

4. A person who has been sentenced for a felony.

5. A person who has been given a final sentence for a penalty of deprivation of liberty due to committing an offense stipulated in chapter seven of the law.

6. A person who has been given a final sentence of imprisonment for committing theft, fraud, bribery, forgery, false testimony or evasion of military service.

7. A person who has been found guilty of tax evasion.

8. A person who has been sentenced to a final sentence for the corruption of political life as stipulated in Decree-Law No. 344 of 1952 which includes:

a) Taking part in or cooperating with others to harm the country’s interests or break laws.

b) Exploitation of privileges to get benefits or personal advantage.

c) Exploitation of privileges to obtain a governmental job for the person himself or for others.

d) Any act that may negatively affect the judiciary of the Iftaa institutions.


Police forces secure a road during the presidential elections in Cairo in 2014 - REUTERS
Presidential Election Schedule

Voting in the 2018 presidential election in Egypt will commence on March 26, as announced by the National Electoral Authority (NEA) on January 8. Sixty million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the election between March 26 and 28 in Egypt, while expatriates will vote between March 16 and 18.

In a press conference held by NEA Chairman Lasheen Ibrahim, he affirmed that the final list of candidates will be announced on February 24, noting that the deadline for any candidate to retract their candidacy is March 1.
The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2.

If no candidate obtains the majority vote, a three-day run-off round will commence in Egypt on April 24, and on April 19 abroad.

“The name of the winning candidate will be announced on May 1,” Ibrahim stated.
On January 20, potential candidates will start to submit their official nomination documents until January 29, according to the official electoral schedule announced by the NEA.

Khaled Ali disqualification still on the table

On March 7, the Dokki Court of Misdemeanors will convene to consider the appeal filed by veteran lawyer and human rights activist Khaled Ali against a three-month jail sentence that he had received on January 3.

Ali announced his candidacy for the presidential election in a press conference on January 11.

In September, Ali was sentenced to three months in jail and fined LE 1000 on bail for charges of waving with an indecent hand gesture in a public space during a protest in the Dokki province.

On March 7, if Ali is found guilty by the court, he will be legally disqualified from running in the presidential election.

Khaled Ali (45 years old) was formally a presidential candidate during the 2012 elections; however he received only 134,056 votes, according to a NEC statement.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who has not yet announced his candidacy for a second four-year term, is the Incumbent sixth President of Egypt and came to office in June 2014 after the June 30 Revolution, which toppled former President Mohamed Morsi, who is affiliated with the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.