[1/10]People wait in line to vote outside a polling station on the first day of the presidential election in Cairo, Egypt, December 10, 2023. Portal/Mohamed Abd El Ghany acquires license rights
- Sisi is poised to secure a new six-year term
- The election follows a long crackdown on dissent
- Voting over three days, results due December 18th
CAIRO, Dec 10 (Portal) – Egyptians went to the presidential election on Sunday with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi close to winning a third term as the country struggles with an economic crisis and a war on its border with Gaza .
A victory would give Sisi a six-year term in office during which immediate priorities would be curbing near-record inflation, tackling a chronic foreign currency shortage and preventing the conflict between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers from spilling over.
Voting will take place from 9am to 9pm (07am-7pm GMT) and will take place over three days. The results will be announced on December 18th.
As voting began on Sunday morning, small crowds gathered outside polling stations in Cairo, where images of Sisi had been seen repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the election. Riot police were deployed at the entrances to Tahrir Square in the center of the capital.
Critics see the election as a farce after a decades-long crackdown on dissent. The government's media organization called it a step toward political pluralism.
Three candidates qualified to run against Sisi in the election, none of them prominent figures. The most prominent potential challenger suspended his candidacy in October, saying officials and thugs had targeted his supporters – allegations that were rejected by the national election authority.
Authorities and commentators from tightly controlled local media have urged Egyptians to go to the polls, although some people said they did not know in the days before the vote when the vote was taking place. Others said a vote would make little difference.
“I was aware that elections were taking place, but I had no idea when. I only knew this because of the massive Sisi campaigns on the streets,” said Aya Mohamed, a 35-year-old marketing manager.
“I am indifferent to the elections because there will be no real change,” she said.
As army chief, Sisi led the ouster of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 before being elected president the following year with 97% of the vote.
Since then, he has overseen a crackdown that has gripped liberal and left-wing activists as well as Islamists. Human rights groups say tens of thousands have been detained.
Sisi and his supporters say the crackdown was necessary to stabilize Egypt and counter Islamist extremism. He has presented himself as a bulwark of stability as conflict broke out on Egypt's borders in Libya and, earlier this year, in Sudan and the Gaza Strip.
Sisi was re-elected in 2018, again with 97% of the vote.
Rising prices
However, for Egypt's rapidly growing population of 104 million people, economic pressures have become the dominant problem. Some people complain that the government is prioritizing costly megaprojects while the state takes on more debt and citizens struggle with rising prices.
“Enough of projects and infrastructure, we want prices to go down, we want the poor to be able to eat and people to be able to make a living,” said Imad Atef, a vegetable seller in Cairo.
The campaign was low-key, with Sisi following a typical program in the week before the vote: opening an arms fair, inspecting streets and taking part in exams for candidates for entry into military and police academies.
Some analysts say the election, originally expected for early 2024, was brought forward so that economic changes – including a devaluation of an already weakened currency – could be implemented after the vote.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it was in talks with Egypt to arrange additional financing under an existing $3 billion loan program, which was stalled due to delays in the sale of state assets and a promised switch to one flexible exchange rate had stalled.
“All indicators suggest that we will move on to IMF reform quite quickly after the election,” said Hany Genena, chief economist at investment bank Cairo Financial Holding.
Reporting by Farah Saafan, Sarah el Safty and Sayed Sheashaa, Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by Helen Popper and David Goodman
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