Former army chief, leftist are only candidates in Egypt presidential poll

The former army general who toppled Egypt's first freely elected president will face a leftist politician in next month's presidential election, as they were the only candidates to enter before nominations closed, the committee organizing the vote said on Sunday.

The committee had received paperwork from former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and former parliamentarian and presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, it said at a news conference several hours after the deadline had passed.

Abdelaziz Salman, secretary-general of the Presidential Elections Committee, said that Sisi had submitted 188,930 signatures endorsing his candidacy to the committee, and Sabahi had submitted 31,555. The required number was 25,000.

The committee will announce the official list of candidates on May 2 for the vote on May 26-27.

Sisi, who deposed Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last year, is expected to win the vote easily.