Egypt's election commission penalises Sabahi while turning blind eye to Al-Sisi's campaign violations

Egypt’s higher committee for the presidential election announced on Thursday that it plans to take take legal action against presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi after he violated the presidential election law by starting his campaign before the final list of candidates has been revealed, which is scheduled for 2 May.

The committee stated that by announcing his platform on Wednesday, three days before the official campaigning begins, Sabahi violated Article 50 of the presidential election law, a breach that could cost him a fine worth anywhere from 10,000 to 500,000 Egyptian pounds.

A high-ranking member of the committee said Sabahi’s breach would be referred to the prosecutor general so that a case can be filed against both him and the CBC Extra channel that broadcast the press conference in which he revealed his platform.

The committee also requested local and administrative officials to remove all public manifestations of the two candidates campaigns at their own expense until the campaigning phase officially starts on Saturday.

However, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is not being penalised for violating the campaign laws, despite putting up giant posters in Cairo’s main squares, such as Isaaf and Opera in the heart of Cairo; some posters have been placed only 500 meters away from the headquarters of the presidential election committee in the Nasr City area. Even so, the committee has not issued any statements about Al-Sisi’s breach of the presidential election law.