2023-12-18 18:27:53
Former Marshal Abdel Fattah al Sisi achieved an overwhelming electoral victory this Monday by winning with 89.6% of the votes, compared to the 97% he obtained in the previous presidential elections, in 2018, which will allow him to lead Egypt for six more years.
In a speech after being proclaimed the winner, Al Sisi promised citizens to continue building “the new Egyptian republic” in the face of the great “challenges” that the country is going through, including the consequences of the serious economic crisis and the war in the Gaza Strip. .
In a packed room, the head of Egypt’s National Electoral Authority (NEA), Hazem Badawi, announced that Al Sisi received 39,702,451 votes (89.6%). Badawi assured that these elections are the ones that have had “the largest participation in the history of Egypt”, with 66.8% of the census, which means that 44,777,668 people went to the polls, of the 67,032,438 with right to vote.
One of the biggest concerns of the Egyptian authorities was participation, given that in 2018 it was only 41%.
Of the registered votes, 1.1% were counted as invalid, Badawi indicated.
At the appearance, the head of the ANE pointed out that “all categories of society participated” in these elections, in which there were no “infractions.”
“It is the lowest percentage of expenses in electoral campaigns and an unprecedented neutrality,” he stressed.
In 2017, Al Sisi assured that he would only remain in power for two terms, but in 2019 he promoted a controversial reform of the Constitution to continue leading the country until 2030, the year from which he will no longer be able to run in elections, initially. .
Al Sisi’s rivals, unknowns
These elections are the first since Al Sisi came to power in 2014 in which four candidates of different stripes competed, but the former marshal’s rivals were practically unknown to the population.
In these elections, the second most voted candidate was Hazem Omar, of the Republican Popular Party (RPP), with 1,986,352 (4.5%).
Omar was followed by Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (PES), with 1,776,952 votes (4%), and the last place went to Abdel Sanad Yamama, head of the Wafd Party, with 822,606 (1.9%).
Although the electoral commission says that there have been no infractions, the observer teams of two of Al Sisi’s contenders assured EFE that parties related to the president “bribed” people with money and food to go to the polling stations, among others. other types of irregularities already registered in previous elections.
Al Sisi’s challenges
These elections have been marked by the fear of a possible displacement of Palestinians to Egypt from Gaza, but also by the general discontent of the population in the face of the severe economic crisis that the country is going through, marked by an official inflation of almost 40% and the loss of value of more than half of the Egyptian pound.
In fact, these elections were scheduled for 2024, but were brought forward in view of the severe and unpopular measures that the Government will have to take to alleviate the crisis and comply with the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Regarding the Gaza war, in which Egypt is one of the mediators along with Qatar and the United States, Al Sisi, 69, stated that the Egyptian population has not only voted in the elections for him, but also for the Palestinian cause.
“I express my great recognition and gratitude to all those who participated in this important event (…) Particularly for this ongoing war on our eastern borders, which requires all our efforts to prevent its continuation,” he stated. He added that this conflict “represents a threat to Egypt’s national security in particular, and to the Palestinian cause in general.”
He noted that the Egyptians who were “in line” to vote for him “were not only to elect their president for a new mandate,” but also “to express their rejection of this inhumane war to the entire world.”
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