Update: Rumors that presidential race to be announced are denied

A presidential source denied on Saturday that interim President Adly Mansour will give a statement announcing that the presidential elections will place in March, privately owned daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Saturday. 

The source said that Mansour will give a speech on Sunday celebrating the announcement of the referendum results and that the speech will discuss no details on the presidential nor the parliamentary elections, according to the newspaper. 

A number of local media outlets including Al-Masry Al-Youm and Al-Tahrir, reported earlier that Adly would announce the timing of the presidential elections, after declaring the final result of last week’s referendum on the draft constitution. They reported that Mansour would call on all Egyptians to participate in the election and that the High Elections Commission would meet on Sunday. 

In December, a draft constitution was amended to allow the presidential election to be held before parliamentary polls, as the roadmap released when President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July stipulated that the parliamentary election take place first.

Some wanted the presidential race to come prior to the parliamentary election or at the same time so that a strong presidential candidate could form a electoral alliance for the parliamentary battle, added Al-Masry Al-Youm, quoting Reuters, which reports that General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to declare his candidacy within a few days.

Many believe that Sisi will run, and other presidential candidates are starting to step out of the presidential race.

Former presidential candidate and diplomat Amr Moussa and Popular Current founder Hamdeen Sabbahi have both said they will not run due to Sisi’s increasing popularity.