Egypt: 672 presidential hopefuls register

Egypt's Supreme Judicial Committee tasked with supervising the presidential elections has declared that 672  people have registered as candidates for the Egyptian election after only a week. Registration is open until April 8. In the meantime, members selected by the two houses of parliament will meet on Saturday to discuss the rules for choosing the members of the constituent assembly that will draft the new constitution. The committee declared in a press statement that the cost of application forms and paper for each candidate exceeded EGP 69, meaning the total cost so far was EGP 36,500 ($600). Forms are however given to applicants for free. It added that the massive number of applicants was unexpected, and it would print out more copies of the registration forms. The spokesperson for the Committee explained the conditions for officially running in the elections, including obtaining 30,000 votes from the electorate, a recommendation from 30 members of the People’s Assembly and Shura Council, or an official statement from the party the candidate belongs to. He added that the Committee had also handed over 100,000 candidate support forms to the Ministry of Exterior to be submitted to Egyptian embassies for Egyptians abroad.