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President Sisi is considered the most prominent potential presidential candidate in Egypt
Article informationAuthor, Salma Khattab Role, BBC News Arabic – Cairo
2 hours ago
Opening of nominations and appointments
The National Elections Authority will begin receiving papers from those wishing to run for the Egyptian presidential elections on the fifth of next October, until the fourteenth of the same month. Those wishing to run must obtain a recommendation from at least twenty members of the House of Representatives, or collect agencies. With the support of 25,000 citizens who have the right to vote in 15 different governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 powers of attorney from each governorate.
There are also a number of conditions that the candidate must meet, including:
He must be Egyptian to Egyptian parents. He or any of his parents or spouse must not have held the nationality of another country. He must have a high qualification. He must enjoy his civil and political rights. He must not have been convicted of a felony or crime against honor or trust unless he has been rehabilitated. He must have performed military service or been legally exempted from it. He must be at least forty years of age on the day the candidacy window opens. He must not be afflicted with a physical or mental illness that affects his performance of the duties of the President of the Republic.
Nominations close on the fourteenth of October, and the Supreme Elections Authority announces the initial list of candidates on the sixteenth of the same month, and the final list of candidates on the ninth of November, and electoral campaigns begin, according to what the Supreme Elections Authority announced.
According to the election schedule, the electoral campaigns are scheduled to continue for approximately one month, then elections for Egyptians abroad will be held on the first, second, and third of December, and elections for Egyptians inside will be held on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of the same month.
As for the result, the Supreme Election Authority – the official body organizing the elections – will announce the result of the first round of voting on December 18, and in the event of a second round of voting, a runoff round will be held about a month later, on January 5, 6, and 7 for Egyptians abroad. , and January 8, 9, and 10 for Egyptians inside.
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Voting preparation procedures will begin on October 5, 2023, in accordance with the decision of the National Elections Authority
Is it early elections?
According to the Egyptian Constitution, early presidential elections are held in the country if the House of Representatives proposes to withdraw confidence from the president, and two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives approve of the proposal. After that, a general referendum will be held at the invitation of the Prime Minister. If the majority approves the proposal to withdraw confidence, early presidential elections will be held in the country within 60 days of announcing the result of the referendum.
What sparked controversy about the possibility of them being early elections is the conflicting media reports about the date of the elections between December 2023 or February 2024, until the National Elections Authority announced the official dates ten days before the opening of nominations.
The 2018 elections were held in March and were scheduled to end the first term of current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on June 7, 2018. Elections were held in May 2014.
According to the Egyptian Constitution, the procedures for electing the President of the Republic begin at least 120 days before the end of the presidential term, and the result must be announced thirty days before the end of the term.
Sisi’s current presidential term is scheduled to end on April 1, 2024, and his second term began on April 2, 2018.
Top potential candidates
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Former member of the House of Representatives and former head of the Karama Party, Ahmed Tantawi, who announced his intention to run
The most prominent potential candidate for these elections is President Sisi, who has not yet announced his intention to run, but since calling on voters to issue proxies of support for the candidates and announcing the election schedule, hundreds of his supporters have published pictures of proxies that were officially registered to support his candidacy, and the parties loyal to him have also placed a number of banners in support in the streets. To nominate him.
Al-Sisi has served as President of the Republic since 2014 when he was elected for the first time, then won a second term in 2018 for a period of four years. Constitutional amendments were made in 2019 after a popular referendum, allowing him to run for a third presidential term. The presidential term was also extended from 4 to 6 years, which means that Sisi will remain in power until 2030 if he runs and wins the expected elections.
At least 7 politicians in Egypt have expressed their desire to run so far, and they are former member of the House of Representatives and former head of the Karama Party, Ahmed Tantawi, head of the Egyptian Democratic Party, Farid Zahran, head of the Constitution Party, Jamila Ismail, head of the Republican People’s Party, Hazem Omar, and head of the Wafd Party, Abdel Sanad. Yamama, and Fouad Badrawi, a member of the Supreme Committee of the Wafd Party.
Potential candidate Ahmed Al-Tantawi announced on Tuesday evening the suspension of his electoral campaign for 48 hours in protest against what he described as restrictions imposed on his supporters in issuing powers of attorney supporting his candidacy from the real estate registration offices. Al-Tantawi said in a live broadcast on Facebook that his campaign collected only two agencies within 48 hours due to the restrictions on his supporters and the arrest of some of them.
The head of the Democratic Peace Party, Ahmed Al-Fadali, also expressed his intention to run in the presidential elections, but he announced the suspension of his electoral campaign work after the announcement of the election timetable, in objection to the short period of time specified by the Supreme Elections Authority to nine days, during which candidates submit their nomination papers, including 25,000 authorizations to run from voters from At least 15 governorates.
While a number of potential candidates resorted to obtaining recommendations from members of Parliament and the Senate in order to bypass collecting mandates, such as the head of the Wafd Party, Abdul Sinad Al-Yamamah, whose electoral campaign announced that he had begun collecting signatures for his nomination from members of the House of Representatives.
Elections in the wake of an economic crisis
These elections are being held against the backdrop of a severe economic crisis that Egypt is experiencing, as the inflation rate has reached nearly 40%, and the Egyptian pound has lost more than half of its value over the past year and a half. The country is also suffering from a crisis of foreign currency shortages, at a time when the total foreign debt has reached… More than $165.4 billion, according to data from the Egyptian Ministry of Planning.
Over the past ten years, Egypt has obtained several loans from international institutions, most notably the International Monetary Fund, and Gulf deposits have also formed a basic pillar of support for the Egyptian economy.
Last year, the Egyptian government announced a plan to sell a number of state assets as part of its attempts to alleviate the foreign currency shortage crisis.
Observers believe that moving the election date a little early is due to the government’s need to make urgent economic decisions that they expect will arouse public opinion, most notably a new devaluation of the currency and the sale of more state assets.
Al-Sisi, the former Defense Minister, assumed the presidency in 2014 following elections held after the army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013, following mass demonstrations against him.
2023-09-27 19:36:48
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