The incumbent, general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, is virtually certain to win the March 26-28 vote, sweeping aside a face-saving would-be candidate whose last-minute participation spared the government the embarrassment of a one-candidate election.
Tuesday's call for a boycott by the Civilian Democratic Movement comes just days after five opposition figures, including a 2012 presidential candidate and two top campaign aides for now-arrested presidential hopeful Sami Annan, called for a boycott of the vote and on Egyptians not to recognize the vote's outcome if it goes ahead.
The five also complained of a "tight timetable which did not give competitors a real chance to present themselves."
The National Election Authority announced on January 8 that the deadline for applications would be January 29.
They requested the elections be halted, and for the authority's work to cease, accusing it of covering up bias.
The New ArabComments