Who are the Candidates Running for Egypt’s Next Presidential Elections?

Egypt’s presidential elections are set to be held in less than one month. The elections will be held from 10 to 12 December for domestic voters, and between 3 and 7 December for voters abroad, according to the National Elections Authority (NEA).

The Egyptian constitution states that candidates are required to secure endorsements from at least 20 MPs from the House of Representatives or 25,000 registered voters from at least 15 governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 endorsements from each governorate.

There are four candidates running for the upcoming elections: Abdelfattah Al-Sisi, Abdel-Sanad Yamama, Farid Zahran, and Hazem Omar.

Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi

On 3 October, Egypt’s current president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced running for a third presidential term. Due to the constitutional amendments that took place in 2019, Al-Sisi became eligible to run for a third term that ends in 2030.

Prior to becoming Egypt’s president in 2014, Al-Sisi, 68, was Egypt’s Minister of Defense from 2012 to 2013, as a result of his extensive military background. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces from 2012 to 2014, and headed Egypt’s Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance Department from 2010 to 2012.

Abdel-Sanad Yamama

Head of Egypt’s oldest liberal party, Al Wafd, Abdel-Sanad Yamama was the first to announce his candidacy for the upcoming elections on 18 June. As a lawyer, law professor, and head of the Department of Private International Law at the Faculty of Law at Menoufiya University, Yamama is keen on addressing human rights issues in Egypt. He secured 27 endorsements from the House of Representatives.

Yamama, 71, was elected as Al-Wafd’s party leader in March 2022, after being a member of the party since 2004. Al-Wafd, which advocates for liberal democracy, was established following the 1919 revolution against British occupation. It was disbanded in 1953, but was later revived in 1978.

Farid Zahran

Farid Zahran is an opposition politician and head of the leftist Egyptian Social Democratic Party. With 20 endorsements from the House of Representatives, Zahran secured the minimum number of endorsements required for his candidacy to be accepted.

Zahran, 66, was one of the founders of Al-Badil newspaper, and heads Al-Mahrousa Centre for Publishing, Press, and Information Services. He contributed to the establishment of the Egyptian Popular Committee in Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada and the Euromed Civil Forum, as part of a partnership between Egyptian and Euro-Mediterranean civil society organizations.

Hazem Omar

Head of the People’s Republican Party (PRP), Hazem Omar, secured 44 nomination forms from the House of Representatives. The PRP is the second-largest block in the House of Representatives, holding 50 out of 596 seats. Omar aims to focus on increasing agricultural and industrial production to reduce import bills, promote local production, and meet the citizens’ needs.

A 59-year-old tourism businessman, Omar was appointed by Al-Sisi to the Senate in 2020. He chaired the Senate’s Arab, Foreign, and African Affairs Committee, before submitting his resignation in September. Omar is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Fial Mora, a tourism development company.

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