Egyptian court delays verdict on presidential hopeful

An Egyptian court has postponed its verdict on presidential hopeful Khaled Ali, judicial sources have revealed. The move is creating more uncertainty about whether he will be allowed to run in this year’s presidential election.

Though current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has not revealed if he is indeed running in the election this year, many expect that he will seek a second term in office after he secured his first term following the military coup that he led in 2013.

Ali announced his candidacy in November last year after being given a three-month prison sentence in September for public indecency over a hand gesture he made outside a courthouse. The incident occurred after he won a case that prevented the government from transferring two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Ali has denied the charge against him, claiming that it is politically motivated.

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The verdict is now expected on 7 March; if Ali is found guilty he will be disqualified from the presidential race. However, if the elections are held before March, he will be allowed to run, explained a constitutional lawyer. The date for the Egyptian elections will be announced next week.

Ali ran in the 2012 election but was beaten by the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who was overthrown in the Sisi-led coup.