Extras needed: Egyptian regime-sanctioned opposition leader 'set to run against Sisi'

Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi, leader of the New Wafd, a liberal self-styled opposition party that has supported Sisi in previous elections, on Friday applied to undergo a medical examination, a necessary step for presidential hopefuls.

While Egyptian state media say this does not necessarily mean his candidacy is official, sources in his party told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister publication the news will be made official on Saturday by the party's leadership.

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Sisi is the only candidate so far to have officially submitted papers to contend the election in which he is almost sure to win a new four-year term. At a recent press conference, a journalist began to ask what he would do were he to lose the election, but the reporter was interrupted by Sisi's unbridled laughter.

Registration for the elections ends on Monday.

Al-Badawi, 68, is a controversial figure who has been mired in corruption allegations and accusations of involvement in Sisi's 2013 military coup against President Mohamed Morsi, the Islamist who became Egypt's first elected leader.

According to a biography supplied by Al-Ahram, Al-Badawi is a wealthy businessman with large investments in the pharmaceutical industry and in Egyptian television, serving as the CEO of Sigma Pharmaceuticals and pro-government Al-Hayat TV channels.

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On social media, Egyptian activists and commentators have dismissed the reports of his candidacy as an attempt by the Egyptian regime to lend legitimacy to a presidential election that has steadily been exposed as a charade, tantamount to a one-candidate referendum for Sisi.

Read more: A shoo-in for Sisi in Egypt's presidential election

Speaking to Gulf News, an official in Al-Badawi's party defended his last-minute potential candidacy, saying that after the withdrawal of most candidates, the New Wafd "thought of fielding a candidate in support of the principles of pluralism and democratic rivalry". 

The conditions in Egypt currently do not allow for fair grounds to run in the elections - Khaled Ali

Serial withdrawals

Egyptian human rights lawyer Khaled Ali announced on Wednesday he was no longer planning to resume his campaign and was withdrawing from the presidential race.