Egypt's Sabbahi officially becomes a presidential candidate

Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi submitted his candidacy application to the election commission in eastern Cairo on Saturday.

He has now collected the required number of written endorsements from eligible voters, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Egypt's newly-approved constitution makes it necessary for presidential hopefuls to collect written endorsements from 25,000 citizens in order to run in presidential polls.

Presidential hopefuls must also undergo health tests to prove they are medically fit to hold the nation's top post.

The elections commission had earlier said it would continue receiving candidacy applications until April 20 for the May 26-27 presidential election.

Sabbahi's presidential campaign said on Friday that it collected more than 31,000 written endorsements from ordinary voters in 17 provinces. 

Sabahi's application brings to two the number of presidential hopefuls who have officially submitted their candidacy applications, including former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who submitted his application last Monday having emassed 200,000 endorsements.

Mansour withdraws from presidential race

At the same time the head of Egypt's Al-Zamalek sporting club on Saturday withdrew his bid to run in the country's presidential election, scheduled for May 26-27.

Speaking at a press conference in western Cairo on Saturday, Mortada Mansour said that he would throw his weight behind former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's bid to run for Egypt's president.

"I will give my vote for Field Marshal al-Sisi in the coming election," Mansour said.

Al-Sisi, who led the army to unseat elected president Mohamed Morsi last July, has applied to run for president in next month's election.

Mansour, a lawyer by profession, has criticised presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabbahi.

"He [Sabbahi] is seeking to trigger chaos in the country," Mansour said, in response to the former's intention to scrap a controversial anti-protest law if he is elected president.

Mansour also claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood is supporting Sabbahi, a leftist politician, in the presidential election.

The presidential elections are part of a transitional roadmap announced upon the ouster by the military of elected president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.

Apart from the referendum on the amended version of the constitution in January, the roadmap also includes presidential and parliamentary elections.