Egyptian President Abdel Fahhat el-Sisi may run unopposed in the presidential election as he seeks a second term in office.
El-Sisi remains the only candidate that has formally submitted his documents ahead of a Monday deadline, as other contenders either withdrew their candidature or were barred from running.
The latest potential competitor to President el-Sisi, Mortada Mansour, on Saturday announced that he will not be running for the presidency despite previously vowing that he will be on the ballot.
Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Shafik, considered a strong competitor, withdrew his candidature in a statement earlier this month on his Twitter account.
Other potential candidates that dropped out include , Sayed El-Badawi, Khaled Ali and Sami Anan.
El-Sisi is Egypt’s sixth president, and has been in power since 2014.
The former Defence Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces was involved in the military coup that removed Mohamed Morsi from office on July 2013, in response to the widespread Egyptian protests.
Egypt’s presidential election will take place on March 26-28, with a runoff to be held from April 24-26 if needed.
The North African country’s national election commission said the results would be announced on 2 April. In the event of a runoff if no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote, the results would be announced on 1 May.
The national elections committee last week said it would publish an official list of candidates on 31 January.
