Egyptians living overseas open presidential poll

Egyptian embassies worldwide have opened their doors for expatriate citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election, Al-Resalah newspaper reported on Friday. The voting process for overseas residents will last for three days.

Only one candidate is standing against current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who came to power through a military coup against the first freely elected Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.

Observers expect a poor turnout in the election as Egyptians widely believe that the result has been decided in advance. Several rights groups have criticised the process due to the undemocratic measures taken by Al-Sisi against those who wished to stand against him.

The Western media expect Al-Sisi to win as he has cracked down on all of the real competitors and obliged them to cancel their plans to stand for the presidency.

It is significant that the Egyptian Elections Committee is not allowing any foreign monitors to cover the electoral process. The Committee set a condition for the international organisations which desired to monitor the election that their agents must be Egyptians and registered on the electoral records.

Al-Sisi has called for wide participation in the poll.