The Wafd Party’s supreme body held a meeting at the headquarters of a pharmaceutical company belonging to party Chairman al-Sayed al-Badawy in 6 October City, and chose Badawy as the party’s presidential candidate to run against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Wafd Party sources said on Thursday evening.
Sources who wished to remain anonymous told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the party had been choosing between Badawy and party leader Hany Sarrey Eddin. Sources added that a senior security official attended the meeting.
In the end, the sources revealed, the party stabilized on Badawy and will officially announce him as presidential candidate on Saturday.
The move comes just two weeks after the Wafd Party endorsed Sisi for a second term as president.
The representative of Badawy submitted a request on behalf of Badawy on Friday morning, to undergo medical tests required by presidential candidates.
So far, Sisi’s most prominent potential competitors for the presidency, including former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq; rights lawyer Khaled Ali; Mohamed Anwar Sadat, nephew of the late Egyptian president; and the former chief of staff of the Armed Forces Sami Anan, have either pulled out of their bid or been arrested.
