Egypt to hold first round of presidential election on March 26-28

Incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to run for re-election and win in the first round.

Egyptians will head to the polls on March 26-28 in the first round of a presidential election, National Elections Authority chief Lasheen Ibrahim said on Monday.

Head of the National Election Commission (NEC), Lasheen Ibrahim, speaks during a news conference in Cairo, Egypt January 8, 2018. (REUTERS)

A second round would be held on April 24-26 if required, he told a news conference in Cairo.

Ibrahim said the commission would accept applications from presidential hopefuls between January 20 and 29.

“The provisional list of candidates and the numbers of their supporters will be published” in state-run newspapers Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar on January 31, he said.

Egyptians living abroad are scheduled to cast their votes on March 16-18, and if a second round is held, they would vote again on April 19-21, he added.

The incumbent, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is widely expected to run for re-election and win in the first round.

Sisi, a former army chief, was elected president in 2014, a year after leading the military’s ouster of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi amid mass protests against his year-long rule.