As Egypt’s fuel crisis continues to worsen, the shortage is triggering violence and protests in the country. One man was killed Monday and an additional seven were injured in fights over fuel. In several cases citizens have blockaded roads to protest the shortage.

Many gas stations in Cairo are without gasoline or diesel. The shortage is compounded by the start of the harvest season, which requires hundreds of millions of liters of diesel to operate machinery. The government’s handling of the crisis has been widely criticized, and recent announcements indicate that the shortage is expected to continue at least until mid-May. The combination of timing and the government’s role mean that the fuel crisis — and relevant issues of economic policy and governance — are likely to play a significant role in the upcoming presidential elections.

Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail has received the official endorsement of the Salafist Scholars Shura Council. Abu-Ismail has ties to both the Salafist community and the Muslim Brotherhood, although he is not formally a member of the latter, and previously received the support of a number of Al-Nour MPs.

Abu-Ismail is one of the leading candidates and is likely to see his popularity increase with the Salafist Scholars’ endorsement.

Candidate Mansour Hassan withdrew his candidacy over the weekend. Hassan, who was a prominent candidate and one of those considered a viable “consensus” between the Muslim Brotherhood and the SCAF, cited “internal conflicts” among his supporters as the reason for his decision. With Hassan out of the race, the Wafd party is likely to endorse Amr Moussa.

Numerous rumors indicate that Omar Suleiman is seriously considering a bid for the presidency. Suleiman, known for his ties to the US, is Egypt’s former intelligence chief and was Mubarak’s Vice President for less than two weeks immediately prior to the January 25 revolution. He is widely considered to be a holdover from the Mubarak regime, and his entrance into the race may put additional pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood to field their own candidate. Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie has drawn this connection himself: “Fielding a Brotherhood candidate for the presidency is now an option after the announcement of Suleiman’s presidential bid, despite our earlier decision not to field a candidate.”

Although Suleiman has made no statements confirming his rumored candidacy, supporters have reportedly gathered more than  70,000 signatures, over twice the amount necessary for nomination. A statement by Suleiman that “I cannot refuse the call of the people” implies that he is likely to formally submit himself as a candidate within the next few days.

There has been speculation that, if the Brotherhood chooses to field a presidential candidate, it will endorse its own Khairat El-Shater. Hani Hafez, the campaign manager for Salafist candidate Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail — who is hoping for FJP support in the election — has expressed skepticism towards these rumors, stating: “I doubt that the Brotherhood would embarrass itself by making such a move” and “They can’t afford to take such a risk.” Hafez argues that backtracking on the promise not to field a candidate would hurt the Brotherhood’s legitimacy and fuel opposition to the party.

A quick update in a story that Egypt Elects has been actively covering.

Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Dr. Mohamed Badie had a lot to say today about the prospect of nominating a candidate for president. Here is what Dr. Badie said:

“When we initially refused to run for the presidency, it was out of concern for Egypt, and for the same reason we’re reviewing the decision now that there are new developments on the political scenes, with former regime figures announcing candidacy – like Omar Suleiman and others – and even Mubarak supporters working for the ousted despot’s return. So, we consider all options open. We certainly do not seek power per se. In fact, the decision not to run for office remains valid, until a different decision is made by the Brotherhood’s General Shura Council”

Seems as though the leadership is seriously considering nominating a candidate. Wouldn’t be surprising – though many of the  Brotherhood’s recent actions have been in concert with the SCAF, in truth, the Brotherhood is fearful of the military and the hold-overs from the Mubarak regime – and rightfully so…the military and Mubarak regime were not the Brotherhood’s best friends. So as more and more candidates from the old regime re-enter the political arena, there will undoubtedly be more pressure on the Brotherhood to nominate an alternative. These candidacies also provide good political cover for the Brotherhood to reverse its previous decision.

In his comments today, Dr. Badie was also quick to point out that the Brotherhood is not allied with the SCAF:

“There has never been marriage, divorce or honeymoon between the Muslim Brotherhood and SCAF. We declared and maintained the same position towards SCAF all along: We will praise and encourage its good endeavors; and point its mistakes when it errs, and effectively stop any wrong-doing. And if it slows down the march towards democracy, we will push it forward, to meet all the legitimate well-deserved demands of the Egyptian people.”

Egypt Elects will keep you updated as this story unfolds…

A movement among supporters of Mohamed ElBaradei claims to have collected over 45,000 signatures in support of an ElBaradei bid for president. ElBaradei, who sees support across a number of youth and opposition groups, dropped out of the presidential race in January, citing concerns about a lack of meaningful political change in post-revolution Egypt.

The organizers of the campaign admit that it is largely symbolic, but have announced their intent to collect a quarter of a million signatures before the deadline on April 8. Although ElBaradei is unlikely to run, the fact that a candidate who has withdrawn from the race retains such a large support base is indicative of frustration and dissatisfaction among a significant subset of the population.

By James Taylor via PolicyMic

It’s been a little over a year since Hosni Mubarak was forced from power in Egypt as part of the “Arab Spring,” and in November and December Egypt witnessed its first free and fair elections. Over 54% of eligible voters turned up to decide who would represent them in the People’s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt’s parliament. Elections for the upper house, the Shura Council, soon followed in January and February of this year.

But amidst this pioneering political transition, one paramount election has yet to occur: an election to fill the position Mubarak vacated, the presidency.

The president is the most powerful official in Egypt, which makes the first free and fair presidential election, scheduled for late May, a landmark event. Accordingly, the election has large implications for the future affairs not only of Egypt and the Middle East, but more broadly the entire world. Yet coverage in the Western media has (for the most part) been scarce, limited to high-level attempts at analyzing a very complex political environment.

This will not do. Whether we are policy wonks, geopolitics enthusiasts or simply informed readers, it is incumbent upon us to learn more about this critical issue.

As campaigns unfold and Egyptians prepare to head to the polls, it will be crucial to understand not only who the frontrunners are, but also the reasons for their popularity. For the first time, Egyptians will be able to freely choose their president, and, given the promise of a new democratic Egypt, the driving forces behind their voting patterns may well grow into the driving forces behind domestic and foreign policies. Identifying these issues is key: to understand the future of Egypt, we must understand the Egyptian people’s choices in governance.

As a small step towards this goal, I’m pleased to announce a new project, Egypt Elects. Egypt Elects is a blog maintained with the express purpose of building awareness of the various issues being discussed by candidates and voters. As the campaigns evolve and key issues emerge, the blog will aggregate news and analysis about the candidates and issues shaping the elections.

My hope is to develop a comprehensive and central source for issue-focused information on Egypt’s upcoming presidential election and, by breaking down the candidates and issues at the forefront of these landmark campaigns, to facilitate an open, informed, and honest dialogue surrounding the presidential election and the issues at play.

A campaign has been launched by the UN and the Egyptian government to provide national IDs to millions of disenfranchised Egyptian women. Currently over four million women in the country are estimated to be lacking a national ID card, which effectively prevents them from exercising a number of civil and political rights – including voting. The three-year campaign will provide these women with national ID cards at no cost (cost is a primary barrier for these women to obtain IDs in the first place).

The initial stages of the campaign will focus on about 50,000 women in Qalyubia, Minya and Assiut. The hope is that providing ID cards to these women will allow them to access public services such as healthcare & education, and enable their increased participation in the workforce and the political process.

Although the campaign is set to continue for three years, its initial stages may allow thousands of traditionally marginalized women to vote in May’s elections.

In yet another blow to Egypt’s struggling economy, the country is currently suffering from a significant fuel shortage, the effects of which have been exacerbated by an ongoing strike in the public transportation sector. The shortage has significantly disrupted traffic and has even resulted in violence in some areas of the country.

Many Egyptians are blaming the government for this and other economic challenges, and it seems that candidates will need to keep economic issues at the forefront of their platforms.