Ahmed Hassan

Egyptian opposition politician and former parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawi will not run in the upcoming presidential elections due to his inability to collect the necessary agencies to run, according to what Mohamed Abu Diyar, Tantawi’s electoral campaign coordinator, confirmed.

Al-Tantawi collected 14,000 popular powers of attorney from citizens, while running for the presidential elections requires obtaining electoral powers of candidacy from 25,000 citizens, distributed among at least 15 governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 powers of attorney from each governorate, or the signature of 20 representatives from the House of Representatives.

The current Egyptian president and presidential candidate for the elections, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, received the recommendation of 424 parliamentarians, and a number of no less than 1.130 million citizens also provided support.

Thus, Tantawi joins, outside the race, the head of the Egyptian opposition Constitution Party, Jamila Ismail, who announced last week that she will not go ahead with running in the Egyptian presidential elections.

Al-Tantawi and Ismail spoke earlier about difficulties during the issuance of powers of attorney in their favor, while international media reported on the harassment that Al-Tantawi’s family and friends were subjected to after announcing his intention to run.

The Egyptian authorities arrested an aunt and a number of Tantawi’s friends on charges of joining a terrorist group and possessing publications days after announcing his candidacy, according to a BBC Arabic report in May.

Applications to run for the Egyptian presidential elections will be received until October 14, with the elections being held in December and the results of the first round announced on December 18, according to the timetable announced by the National Elections Authority.

The elections are being held while the Egyptian economy is suffering from high inflation since the Russian-Ukrainian war, which caused prices to rise and the escape of hot money, which Egypt depends on to import most of its food and energy needs, in addition to production inputs for a large number of industries.

(Prepared by: Ahmed Hassan, Edited by Shaima Hefzy, Contact: zawya.arabic@lseg.com)

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