File Photo: Ahmed Al-Fadaly, chairman of the pro-regime Democratic Peace party. Al-Ahram
El-Fadaly announced that he will run for the presidency as the chairman of both the Democratic Peace Party and the Independence Current.
"At the end of the meetings of the Independence Current's offices in the three governorates of Beheira, Alexandria and Matrouh, leading members decided to name chairman of the Democratic Peace Party Ahmed El-Fadaly as its candidate in Egypt's upcoming presidential election," Secretary-General Ihab Salama said in a statement on Monday.
According to Salama, leaders of the party and the current have been consulting for the past three months regarding Egypt's presidential election. "The members across Egypt concluded meetings on Monday and decided that El-Fadaly will be the official candidate for the party and the current in the upcoming election," stated Salama.
Founded in 2005 by El-Fadaly, the Democratic Peace Party advocates for a democratic system of government and social peace. El-Fadaly was one of 10 candidates who ran against late President Hosni Mubarak during Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election in 2005.
El-Fadaly established the Independence Current in 2013, joining several political forces that led the 30 June Revolution against President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood rule.
El-Fadaly expressed his full support for electing President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in 2014.
El-Fadaly will be the third candidate to announce his candidacy for Egypt's upcoming presidential election, following Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the liberal Al-Wafd Party, and Fouad Badrawi, a leading member of the same party.
Yamama claims to have the support of 95 percent of the party's Supreme Council, while Badrawi says he has endorsements from most of the leading members and has requested an urgent meeting to reach a final decision.
The Supreme Council meeting, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed by Yamama for unexplained reasons, according to Badrawi.
The Republican People's Party, led by Senator Hazem Omar, announced last week that it would submit a presidential bid and declare the party's official candidate on 5 July.
Several political parties gathered at the headquarters of the Conservatives Party on Monday to establish The Free Current, which advocates for constitutional democracy and a liberal economy.
Attendees included Ahmed Tantawi, a former independent MP, and expected presidential candidate; Mohamed Anwar Esmat El-Sadat, former MP and chairman of the Reform and Development Party; Hesham Qassem, a political activist; Ihab El-Khouli, former MP; Emad Gad, Al-Ahram political analyst; Hussein Mansour, a Wafd Party official; and Khaled Dawoud, an Ahram journalist and former chairman of the Destour Party.
Akmal Qortam stated that the Free Current plans to name a candidate for the presidential election at a later stage. If they are unable to do so, they will support one of the existing candidates.
According to activist Hesham Qassem, the idea of creating a free current in the country originated one year ago. He stressed that this current “is not meant to replace the existing Civil Democratic Movement, but rather to serve as a platform for advocating a constitutional democracy and a free economy led by the private sector."
As per Article 142 of the Egyptian constitution, "candidates must either receive the recommendation of at least 20 elected members of the House of Representatives or endorsements from at least 25,000 citizens with the right to vote, distributed across at least 15 governorates and with a minimum of 1,000 endorsements from each governorate."
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