Gameela Ismail, the chairman of the Dostour (Constitution) Party, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday evening she was “ready” to run in the upcoming presidential race.
Referring to women and her readiness to run for office, she added: “The (other) half of society will govern for the first time in Egypt towards a new road for freedom and a dignified life.”
Ismail made the announcement in a message that was addressed to the party’s supreme council and general assembly.
She called for active political participation to end current social and economic hardships in the country.
She expressed her desire for “a transition from protest and quarreling with the government… this cannot be achieved by abstract demands but through participation.”
Ismail, 57, became first known to the public during her work as a TV presenter who worked in the Egyptian state TV in the 1990s.
She launched her political career in 2001, running for parliament in an unsuccessful bid.
In 2003 she co-founded the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) and served as the spokesperson for its presidential elections in 2005.
After the January Revolution in 2011, she hosted a TV program on the Al-Nahar TV channel.
She co-founded the Constitution Party in 2012.
In 2014, Ismail ran for the post of chairman of the Constitution Party but lost to Hala Shukrallah.
In 2020, she was finally elected chairman of the Constitution Party after beating journalist Khaled Dawoud for the post.
On Tuesday, the Executive Director of the National Election Authority (NEA) Ahmed Bendari announced that the NEA will release the schedule of the upcoming presidential elections next Monday.
In a press conference, Bendari stressed that the NEA will maintain neutrality and safeguard the rights of all candidates who meet the nomination requirements,
Ismail is the only woman who announced intentions to run for the president’s seat so far.
In recent weeks, five political figures announced their intention to nominate themselves for the presidency.
These include Abdel-Sanad Yamama, head of the Wafd Party; Fouad Badrawi, a former MP and member of the Wafd Party’s higher council; Hazem Omar, head of the People’s Republican Party; Ahmed El-Fadaly, chairman of the Democratic Peace Party; and Ahmed Tantawi, a former MP and former head of Nasserist Karama Party.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, whose current term ends in 2024, has yet to declare his intent to run for a third term.
However, a host of political parties have urged President El-Sisi to run for another term.
