Egypt’s presidential election is expected to be held before the second half of January 2024.
Under the 2014 constitution, the presidential election must be held ahead of 15 January 2024, the day on which the mandate of the National Election Authority expires.
The Higher Council of the Wafd Party is expected to meet within days to decide on a presidential candidate. Two of the party’s senior officials — Chairman Abdel-Sanad Yamama and member of the party’s Higher Council, former MP Fouad Badrawi — have submitted bids for the nomination.
Yamama claimed he had the backing of 90 per cent of Higher Council members during a meeting held in the middle of June, insisting he was “the official candidate of the Wafd”.
He added that he had spoken with the party’s former chairman Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, who ran for the presidency in 2018, to ascertain if Al-Badawi has any intention of standing again. When the answer was no, he put himself forward and received endorsements from 52 of the 60 members of the Higher Council.
Badrawi argues that the Higher Council’s meeting that named Yamama as the Wafd’s official presidential candidate was illegal.
“It happened without the knowledge of most members of the Higher Council. My decision to submit a presidential bid followed requests by many Wafdists who say I am the most viable candidate,” said Badrawi.
Badrawi also revealed he sent a letter to Yamama a week ago, informing him of his decision to stand and calling on the Higher Council to choose between the two.
Mohamed Abdel-Alim, Wafd Party parliamentary spokesperson, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the decision of Yamama and Badrawi to seek the party’s nomination had created divisions.
“I hope that the Higher Council’s meeting will be able to settle this dispute in a civilised way. If it divides the Wafd into two camps, it is better for the party not to contest the election.”
The party will also face problems financing an election campaign.
“Yes, there are divisions among the Wafd Higher Council’s members over who should be the presidential candidate but once the Higher Council reaches a decision in a secret, democratic, and transparent ballot, all differences and divisions will disappear,” says Badrawi.
Article 142 of Egypt’s constitution states that “candidates must receive the recommendation of at least 20 elected members of the House of Representatives, or endorsements from at least 25,000 citizens who have the right to vote, in at least 15 governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 endorsements from each governorate.”
The Wafd Party has 39 seats in the House of Representatives and 10 in the Senate.
Last week, the People’s Republican Party also announced its intention to field a presidential candidate. The party’s Higher Council will meet in a few days to select a candidate who must secure the backing of a majority on the party’s Higher Council.
“The presidential election offers an opportunity to publicise our political and economic platform,” said party chairman Senator Hazem Omar.
The party has 67 seats in the House of Representatives and 17 elected members in the Senate.
The Republican People’s Party, founded in September 2012 and currently led by Omar, supports political reforms and a liberalised economy, with the stipulation that the government take measures to mitigate the impact of inflation and privatisation on the most vulnerable.
The Democratic Peace Party announced that it had chosen its chairman, Ahmed Al-Fadali, to be its candidate. The party’s secretary-general, Ihab Salama, said party leaders had been consulting for three weeks and that a majority of party members had agreed that Al-Fadali be its candidate.
Founded in 2005 by Al-Fadali, the Democratic Peace party advocates greater democratisation.
Al-Fadali was one of 10 candidates who ran against president Hosni Mubarak during Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential election in 2005. In 2013, he established the Independence Current which included political forces that led the 30 June Revolution against Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood rule.
Last week, liberal parties forming the Free Current also announced their intention to field a candidate.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 July, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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