Omar is the fourth to submit his application, following President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party, and Abdel-Sanad Yamama, head of Egypt's oldest liberal party, the Wafd.

Omar, a former Senate member, secured the endorsements required to join the elections race from MPs, he said in a statement.

Candidates must secure endorsements from at least 20 MPs from the House of Representatives or 25,000 citizens.

The PRP is the second-largest block in the House of Representatives, holding 50 (8.8 percent) out of 596 seats.

Omar, who is a tourism entrepreneur, was appointed by El-Sisi to the Senate in 2020. He chaired the Senate's Arab, Foreign, and African Affairs Committee.

In late September, he announced his resignation from the Senate to run for the presidency.

The NEA will close the door for receiving candidacy papers on Saturday at 2pm and will announce an initial list of candidates on 16 October after disqualifying incomplete candidacy submissions.

Voting in Egypt will take place from 10 to 12 December. Egyptians abroad will cast their votes on 1-3 December.

The final result will be announced on 18 December if no run-off is required.

The upcoming elections are the fourth presidential elections since the uprising of 25 January 2011.

The previous presidential elections were held in 2018.