The founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party (FEP), business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, lodged a complaint with the prosecution on Sunday accusing the Nour Party and its spokesman Nader Bakkar of defaming him after the latter described him as “failure" and "corrupt”.

Sawiris’s complaint, which was submitted by his lawyer Ahmed Hendy, states that Bakkar’s comments, which also accused Sawiris’s FEP of “paying money to gather supporters and stealing Egypt’s funds”, show that he lacks ethics and honor.

His complaint added that Bakkar forgot that the electoral competition is a political representation for Egypt which deserves to be represented by “real men”, adding that while Sawiris was saying no to corruption and the inheritance of power during the Hosni Mubarak reign, Bakkar and his party were defending the regime and justifying their acts.

Nadder Bakkar, who is running on the Nour Party’s list in Alexandria, also in the West Delta constituency, attacked Sawiris and the FEP during a rally last week as part of his elections campaign.

A fierce competition is expected between the Nour Party and the FEP, which is part of the “For the love of Egypt” list, over 15 seats in the West Delta constituency.