The Presidential Elections Commission officially ended the presidential candidate application period at 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. The elections are scheduled for 23 and 24 May.
Freedom and Justice Party chief Mohamed Morsy and former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman submitted their applications at the 11th hour, adding more intrigue to the already volatile race.
Authorities heightened security at the office ahead of Morsy and Suleiman's expected applications.
In late March, the commission, which began accepting nominations 10 March, said more than 1,200 citizens had registered to run in the race.
The Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday decided to field Morsy alongside Khairat al-Shater, the former deputy supreme guide, in case the latter is ousted from the race for failing to meet the legal requirements for candidacy due to a previous criminal conviction.
Hatem Bagato, the commission's secretary general, said Morsy's lawyer arrived at the commission Sunday morning to inquire about the necessary documents before his cilent arrived.
Meanwhile, Suleiman backtracked on a previous decision not to run.
Although some had speculated that Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazy would register as Jama'a al-Islamiya's presidential candidate, he decided Sunday not to run.
Nagah Meliguy Sheta, a Coptic general manager at the National Post Authority, submitted his candidacy papers early today after gathering 30 endorsements from Parliament.
Sheta declined to disclose the names of the MPs who endorsed him to avoid embarrassing them.
Sheta said his platform is to establish a modern civilian state with Sharia as the main source of its legislation. Non-Muslims will have the right to be governed by their creeds, he said. He said he will diversify the sources from which Egypt purchases weapons, develop Sinai and make the Egyptian pound the currency used at the Suez Canal.
State owned paper Al-Ahram reported that Khaled Ali, a prominent rights activist, arrived at the commission at 10 am to submit his candidacy papers. Ali’s campaign said he managed to get 32 endorsements from parties with representation in Parliament such as the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance, and the Revolution Continues Coalition, as well as from independent MPs such as Amr Hamzawy, Emad Gad, Khaled Shaban, Ziad Bahaa al-Deen and Hamdy al-Fakharany.
Abdallah Al-Ashal, a former ambassador, also registered early Sunday to run as a candidate for the Salafi-oriented Asala Party, the paper also reported.
Translated from MENA
