President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi became the only candidate in the presidential elections on Wednesday after former presidential hopeful Khaled Ali announced his withdrawal from the race. Thus, Sisi will likely be the only candidate, because the mission is almost impossible for any new candidate to collect 25,000 signatures from supporters until the deadline, Monday February 29, set by the National Elections Commission (NEC) Monday to submit presidential candidacy documents. In the case of Sisi contesting alone, Article 36 of the Presidential Elections Law provides that Sisi or the sole candidate can win the presidential race if he garners only 5 percent of the votes of the total eligible voters, according to deputy head of the NEC judges Mahmoud al-Sherif. On Tuesday, Sisi underwent a medical examination required by presidential hopefuls ahead of submitting their candidacy documents. Sisi officially submitted his candidacy papers on Wednesday, becoming thus the sole candidate so far.

Source: Egypt Independent January 25, 2018 11:26 UTC