Presidential hopeful ex-minister of defense Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi (Photo courtesy of El-Sisi official campaign)
Former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has chosen a star as his symbol in the upcoming presidential election.
"Choosing the star was in accordance with our standard of simplicity, smoothness and symbolism," El-Sisi's legal advisor Mohamed Bahaa Abu Shoka told private satellite channel Al-Youm on Saturday.
Abu Shoka added: The star was used by the Arabs as a guide, and hence was chosen by the candidate "that will lead the country to the right path."
"It also lights the sky to illuminate the darkness of the night. But we don't mean it to symbolise that our candidate will be up in the sky, but rather Egypt will," he added.
Presidential candidates could choose from 15 symbols.
The campaign team of leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, El-Sisi's only rival, filed a request with the election committee last week for an eagle symbol to be added to the list -- the same symbol he used in the 2012 presidential election.
The request was accepted, but the committee's general-secretary Abdel-Aziz Salman said this did not mean the symbol was reserved for Sabahi.
"By law we had the right to protest the request of the rival candidate regarding the eagle symbol, but we abstained from objecting out of desire for an honourable competition," said Abu Shoka.
El-Sisi had the first choice of voting symbol because he was the first to register his candidacy.
Sabahi and El-Sisi were the only two people to apply to stand as candidates.
The election committee will issue the final list of candidates on 2 May, after reviewing any objections.
The election will be held on 26 and 27 May.
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