Chatter on the airwaves last night was almost exclusively about the presidential elections, particularly after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and former Armed Forces chief of staff Sami Anan officially said they would run.

Anan campaign spokesperson Hazem Hosny told Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi that the announcement has been well received, particularly as people see Anan as a legitimate contender. He also said that Anan is not currently a member of the Egypt Arabism Party, but was among its founders, which encouraged the party to support his bid (watch, runtime: 3:59).

Anan still needs SCAF approval: Hosny made clear that Anan effectively needs permission from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to run as he remains a reserve officers; Anan would need leave to resign his commission to be allowed to run as a civilian. He noted that El Sisi sought and was granted the same leave in 2014 (watch, runtime: 2:04).

Former CAO head Hisham Genena is Anan’s deputy? Deputy head of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Amr Hashem Rabie told Lamees that former Central Auditing Organization head Hisham Genena is a top Anan campaign official. That should buff the image of an Anan candidacy in the eyes of Ikhwan supporters, Rabie said (watch, runtime: 6:12).

Lamees also touched on El Sisi’s State of the Nation conference, paying particular attention to his statement that he wouldn’t allow a corrupt individual to become president. The host wondered out loud who El Sisi was referring to and how he would prevent that person from ruling the country (watch, runtime: 5:48).

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of a pluralistic election, saying that Anan’s candidacy is the proof that the elections will be legitimate. He also engaged in some fortune telling, predicting that Anan will poach many of activist Khaled Ali’s supporters (watch, runtime: 54:41).

Ali campaign spokesman Amr Abdel Rahman evaded Adib’s questions about the number of endorsements Ali has received, saying the number won’t be tallied until the end of the week. Abdel Rahman also welcomed Anan’s candidacy as confirmation that the coming months will see a true election, and not a referendum, which initially seemed to be the case. However, he dismissed the possibility of Anan threatening Ali’s voter base, and said that it’s far more likely for him to attract pro-Sisi voters (watch, runtime: 7:04).