Leading political figure Amr Moussa claimed on Tuesday that armed forces chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi intends to run in the upcoming presidential elections.
Moussa, who headed the committee that drafted the 2014 constitution, met with Field Marshal El-Sisi on Tuesday, according to the official Facebook page of army spokesperson Ahmed Ali.
Moussa, who came fifth in the 2012 presidential election, told Al-Ahram Arabic that El-Sisi will likely announce his candidacy by the end of the month.
Speculation over a possible presidency run by El-Sisi has increased since a January statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) providing its blessing for El-Sisi’s nomination.
El-Sisi has yet to state publicly whether or not he will run in the upcoming elections. Dates for the poll have yet to be announced, but in accordance with a recent decree by interim President Adly Mansour, they are set to take place before 18 April.
Challengers to a possible El-Sisi candidacy have been limited thus far. Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi is the only opponent to announce that he will run, as of this past Saturday.
Strong Egypt Party leader and former presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh has said he will not run, saying on Sunday that he “will not take part in deceiving the people.”
Presidential elections are one of the latter phases of a roadmap put into effect by the provisional government established by El-Sisi after the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July.