The deadline for presidential hopefuls to register as candidates in the 2018 presidential election is Monday. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press on Tuesday evening it was still unclear who would compete with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi who is standing for a second term. Sami Anan, who announced he was standing on Sunday, was summoned for interrogation on Tuesday. And it was announced that his name was lifted from the list of presidential candidates. Anan served as army chief of staff under Hosni Mubarak but was removed from office by Mohamed Morsi in the summer of 2012. Leftist candidate Khaled Ali told reporters on Tuesday he was close to securing the 25,000 endorsements required by the constitution for candidates to stand. In a series of press conferences this week National Elections Commission (NEC) Spokesperson Mahmoud Al-Sherif reiterated that the poll will be marked by transparency and integrity. Al-Sherif said the NEC is at work preparing the list of judges who will supervise ballot boxes and told reporters the election will cost close to LE1 billion. Guidelines for media outlets interested in conducting opinion polls during the presidential campaign are already in place. Outside Egypt, expatriates will still be able to vote as long as they have a valid passport or identity card. “Expatriates must bring their national identification card and passport to Egyptian embassies and consulates in their host countries on the ballot days,” Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram Ebeid said at a press conference Monday.