Cairo, Egypt
Egyptians began voting, on Sunday (Dec 10), in a presidential election overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas while the incumbent President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is poised to secure a third term in power. The polling began as the country grapples with one of the most severe financial crises in its recent history.
About the elections
The voting began at 9:00 am and will go on till 9:00 pm (local time) and will continue for the next three days. The results will be announced on December 18.
Voters lined up before the booths opened in Cairo, reported AFP, with patriotic songs playing on a loop amid heavy security. Riot police were deployed at entrances to Tahrir Square in the capital’s centre.
Around 67 million people are eligible to vote but given the low turnout in the previous elections, the government has ramped up efforts to urge voters to cast their ballots.
Sisi is poised to win a new six-year term while critics have called the election a sham after the government’s decade-long crackdown on dissent. However, the state media has called this election a step towards political pluralism.
There are three other candidates qualified to stand against the incumbent, but the only prominent figure who had the potential to give some competition to Sisi stepped down in October citing attacks against his supporters by officials and thugs. The accusations have since been dismissed by the national election authority.
“Of course people need to participate, but let’s be realistic: these elections are set for Sisi, because no one knows the other candidates,” a voter in her fifties told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Voters also said that they didn’t even know that the elections were happening, but noted that it would make very little difference. “I feel indifferent about the elections because there will be no real change,” Aya Mohamed, a 35-year-old marketing executive told Reuters.
Economic crisis, war in Gaza on minds
In 2013, Sisi, while serving as the army chief led the efforts to oust Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, before winning the presidency the following year with 97 per cent of the vote.
Under Sisi’s rule, Egypt has jailed thousands of political dissenters as the crackdown swept up liberal and leftist activists as well as Islamists. However, the incumbent president and his supporters have argued that the crackdown was needed to stabilise Egypt and counter Islamist extremism.
Rights groups reportedly say tens of thousands have been jailed, this is even though around 1,000 people were freed after a presidential pardon in one year.
If Sisi wins, one of his priorities would also include preventing spillover from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s fast-growing population of 104 million is struggling to keep up with the rising inflation in the country.
Inflation has hovered near 40 per cent after the currency lost half its value and drove up the cost of imports, but even before the current crisis, millions of people were living on or below the poverty line.
A report by Reuters said voters were handed out bags containing flour, rice and other basic commodities after showing ink stains on their fingers indicating they had voted. However, some expressed disappointment that it did not include sugar recently subject to sharp price rises.
During Sisi’s rule, the national debt has tripled while the various mega-projects which are often led by the military fail to deliver on their benefits.
(With inputs from agencies)