Egyptian Army Troopers stand guard at the Rafah border crossing among Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
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Egyptians head to the polls on Sunday for a presidential election in which Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is poised to get a third phrase in power as the country grapples with an economic disaster and a war on its border with Gaza.
Victory would hand Sisi a 6-calendar year phrase in which immediate priorities would be taming close to-document inflation, handling a chronic foreign currency shortage and protecting against spillover from the conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Voting, which operates from 9 a.m. until finally 9 p.m. (0700-1900 GMT), is unfold over 3 days, with outcomes owing to be introduced on Dec. 18.
Critics see the election as a sham after a decade-extended crackdown on dissent. The government’s media human body has called it a phase in direction of political pluralism.
Three candidates skilled to stand in opposition to Sisi in the election, none of them substantial-profile figures. The most popular probable challenger halted his run in Oct, stating officers and thugs had targeted his supporters – accusations dismissed by the national election authority.
Authorities and commentators on tightly controlled regional media have been urging Egyptians to convert out to vote, however some persons reported they were being unaware when the election was using spot in the times right before the poll. Many others reported voting would make tiny distinction.
“I was aware there are elections occurring but I experienced no notion when. I only understood that simply because of the huge Sisi strategies close to the streets,” stated Aya Mohamed, a 35-calendar year-previous marketing government.
“I sense indifferent about the elections since there will be no genuine change,” she said.
As military chief, Sisi led the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, prior to currently being elected to the presidency the following yr with 97% of the vote.
Considering that then he has overseen a crackdown that has swept up liberal and leftist activists as well as Islamists and that rights groups say has witnessed tens of hundreds jailed. He was reelected in 2018, once again with 97%.
Sisi and his backers say the crackdown was essential to stabilise Egypt and counter Islamist extremism. He has offered himself as a bulwark of steadiness as conflict has erupted on Egypt’s borders in Libya, and earlier this year in Sudan and Gaza.
Economic pressures
But economic pressures have turn into the dominant issue for Egypt’s quick-expanding populace of 104 million, with some individuals complaining that the governing administration has prioritised costly mega-initiatives while the point out will take on much more debt and citizens battle with soaring costs.
“Plenty of of assignments and infrastructure, we want the rates to go down, we want for the impoverished to try to eat and individuals to have a dwelling,” stated Imad Atef, a vegetable vendor in Cairo.
Some analysts say the election, at first anticipated in early 2024, was brought ahead so economic adjustments – like a devaluation of an already weakened currency – could be carried out just after the vote.
The Worldwide Monetary Fund (IMF) explained on Thursday it was in talks with Egypt to concur additional financing beneath an current, $3-billion personal loan programme that experienced stalled thanks to delays in revenue of condition belongings and a promised change in direction of a far more adaptable exchange level.
“All indicators counsel that we’re heading to move rather quickly soon after the election in terms of continuing with the IMF reform,” mentioned Hany Genena, chief economist at Cairo Money Keeping, an investment decision bank.