Cairo - Egypt's incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi will
most likely become the only candidate in the country's presidential
election on Monday after a string of would-be challengers pulled out
or were barred from running.
The deadline for candidacy registration is 2 pm (1200 GMT). The
election is due be held over three days starting on March 26.
On Saturday, al-Wafd, Egypt's oldest liberal party, refused to let
its leader run for president. Al-Wafd had earlier announced backing
al-Sissi to seek a second term in office in the election.
Barring a last-minute submission, it will be a one-horse race,
similar to other presidential elections in the decades before the
2011 revolt, which toppled long-time autocrat Hosny Mubarak.
The current situation brings the possibility of a low voter turnout.
Last week, presidential hopeful Sami Annan, a former military chief
of staff, was barred from running after the army summoned him for
investigation over possible breaches of army regulations that ban
active officers from contesting elections.
In recent weeks, three other potential contenders have withdrawn
their bids.
Opposition rights lawyer Khaled Ali dropped out of the race, accusing
authorities of harassment and the election commission of bias against
him.
Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, who had been widely seen as a
serious challenger to al-Sissi, said he would not run for president,
reversing an earlier announcement.
Former lawmaker Mohammed Anwar Sadat also quit, citing fears that his
supporters could be arrested or intimidated by authorities.
Al-Sissi, an ex-army chief, came to power in 2014, a year after he
led the overthrow of the country's first democratically elected but
divisive Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.