The General Prosecution ordered the investigation into calls for boycotting the coming presidential election after lawsuits were filed against a number of politicians, accusing them of attempting to topple the regime.
The accused individuals include former presidential candidate and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. The lawsuit demands the authorities arrest and interrogate the accused, and to refer them to court. And according to local media, the lawsuit said the defendants are accused of “targeting the president”, and taking parts of his speeches out of context and “making up content for foreign media” to incite against the state.
The lawsuit accused several politicians of interpreting statements by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in a way that is flawed.
The sitting president is seeking to secure a second term, as he submitted the required endorsements and passed a mandatory medical test to run in the March election.
Endorsements for potential candidates for the upcoming election reached almost 1.35m, spokesperson of the National Electoral Commission Mahmoud El-Sherif previously said in a statement.
The commission announced that the 2018 presidential election would begin abroad on 16 March and on 26 March within Egypt. The election abroad will take place from 16-18 March, and will continue inside Egypt from 26-28 March. The result of the first round will be announced on 2 April.
A second round could take place if no candidate secures more than 50% of the votes.
In case a runoff is needed, an election would take place outside Egypt from 19-21 April, while it would take place from 24-26 April inside Egypt.
On 23 January, the Egyptian Armed Forces ordered the summoning of former chief of staff Sami Anan on charges of incitement between the military and the Egyptian people.
According to the video statement by the military, Anan is accused of running for an election without the approval of the armed forces. The statement said that Anan is considered to be a reservist, and hence, cannot be engaged in civilian practices such as running for president in an election.
