In Egypt, the polling stations for the presidential elections opened at 9 a.m. Sunday morning local time (8 a.m. Belgian time). These take place over three days. Four candidates are participating in the elections, but in addition to the president, there are three candidates who do not appear to threaten his position.
Egyptians will go to the polls from December 10 to 12. On December 18 they will know who won the elections.
The president was the leader of the military and led the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. He has been in power ever since. Al-Sisi is the clear favorite for the elections, despite the rapidly declining economy and criticism from Western partner countries and rights groups about his human rights record, news channel Al Jazeera reports.
Former Field Marshal Al-Sisi is running against three popular candidates: Farid Zahran (Egyptian Social Democratic Party), Abdel-Sanad Yamama (Wafd) and Hazem Omar (Republican People’s Party). All three are well-known faces, but will probably not be able to threaten the position of the current president enough. Al-Sisi received more than 90 percent of the votes in 2014 and 2018.
Big projects
The elections from December 10 to 12 are taking place as the Middle Eastern country is plagued by an economic crisis. Egypt is looking for foreign money as inflation is at a record high.
Al-Sisi wants to continue Egypt’s ambitious reform, which he says is vital to meet the needs of its 105 million people and overcome years of mismanagement.
Under his rule, billions of dollars have been spent on major projects, such as highways and bridges, but also an administrative capital and the widening of the Suez Canal. Critics say this contributed to the current crisis.
War
With the rising cost of living leaving few spared, the economy would become the main issue of the election. But the war between Israel and the extremist Palestinian organization Hamas appears to have changed that. Egypt’s central role places it at the forefront of regional diplomacy.
The Egyptians expressed their support for the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. Al-Sisi calls for an immediate ceasefire and rejects any plan to send Palestinians into Egyptian territory. He receives a lot of local support.
Two more likely opponents of Al-Sisi are not participating in the elections. The main opposition candidate, Ahmed al-Tantawi, threw in the towel. Despite the unprecedented movement that has sprung up around him, he was only able to collect 14,000 signatures of the 25,000 signatures needed to officially stand as a candidate.