Egypt’s presidential election campaigning kicks off Saturday: NEC

Daily News Egypt
2 Min Read
elections

Electioneering for presidential candidates kicked off on Saturday 24 February and is set to end on 23 March.

The announcement came a day after the National Electoral Commission (NEC) approved incumbent President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Moussa Mostafa Moussa, head of El-Ghad Party, as the final candidates for the March 2018 election.

The NEC further approved electoral symbols for the candidates: a star for Al-Sisi and an airplane for Moussa.

The election is set to be held abroad on 16-18 March, and inside Egypt on 26-28 March .

Several billboards featuring President Al-Sisi were seen in Cairo’s streets Saturday, the first day of campaigning.

The election’s result is scheduled to be announced on 2 April. In case of a run-off, a second round of voting would take place later in April. A run-off vote takes place when neither of the two candidates secures higher than 50% of the vote.

Earlier, the NEC set a cap of EGP 20m (approximately $1.3m) for campaign financing for each candidate.

In a previous statement, the NEC warned candidates against violating the right of privacy of their rivals, threatening national peace, or using religious slogans that discriminate between citizens. It further warned against using violence, threats, or bribes.

The authority also proscribed the use of state-owned buildings, vital facilities, means of transportation, public sector companies, and NGOs in campaigning.

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