AFPEAn officer helps a woman vote in Cairo
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 20:22
The presidential elections have started in Egypt. Despite serious economic problems and a plummeting currency, incumbent President Sisi will almost certainly win. Egyptian media mainly pay attention to the war in the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The trip to the polls is spread over three days. The official result will follow on December 18. The big question is how many of the 67 million voters will show up. As for the outcome, no surprise is expected: in the previous two presidential elections, former General Sisi received 97 percent of the votes.
‘I vote for safety’
“I’m going to vote for Sisi, of course. I love him,” 65-year-old Nabia Ahmed told a Reuters reporter in Giza, a Cairo suburb. “I’m voting for him because I want safety for my children.” The authoritarian leader presents himself as the man who brought stability in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution. Under Sisi’s leadership, the first democratically elected president was deposed in 2013.
Under Sisi’s rule, Egypt has entered an economic crisis. The national debt has tripled due to megalomaniac projects, such as the construction of a new capital east of Cairo. Inflation peaked at 38 percent in October, and food prices rose by 70 percent.
The Egyptian pound has lost almost half its value against the dollar since March. Tens of millions of citizens are struggling to make ends meet. People who have just voted are given bags of flour or rice behind a polling station, the Reuters journalist reports.
Correspondent Joost Scheffers in Cairo:
“The war in Gaza is an ideal lightning rod for Sisi. Until the Hamas attack on October 7, the poor economic situation in Egypt was the talk of the day. Now it is only about the Israeli offensive. The elections are still discussed in talk shows discussed, but that is for the stage since all media are in the hands of the government.
The aversion to Israel is very great here. The Palestinians are seen as brothers and fellow believers. Egyptians often receive images from Gaza directly and unfiltered via social media. That makes anti-Israel sentiment even more intense.
Sisi has openly criticized Israel. That may sound obvious, but under his leadership the relationship between the two countries has never been so close. In previous wars in Gaza, the president kept a low profile and presented himself as a mediator. Now he makes speeches against Israel and even allows pro-Palestinian marches, while demonstrations are normally banned. All that made him more popular.”
The elections were initially scheduled for early 2024, but in September it was announced that Egypt will go to the polls as early as December. Critics say this allows the regime to implement unpopular economic measures after the elections instead of before.
Three opposing candidates
Three presidential candidates have been ‘approved’ to participate in the elections. They are described by international media as relatively unknown lightweights. Sisi’s most prominent opponent quit his campaign in October. He said his supporters were being threatened, but the National Election Council dismissed the accusation as nonsense.
According to state media, major steps have been taken towards political pluralism, but human rights organizations point out that tens of thousands of dissidents have been detained in the past decade. This group ranges from Islamic to left-wing activists.
“I am indifferent to the elections,” 35-year-old Aya Mohamed told Reuters. “There will be no real change.”
2023-12-10 19:22:43
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