Egypt’s Salafist party backs Sisi’s presidential bid

Egypt’s Salafist Al-Nour Party has announced that it backs President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in his bid for a third term in office in the upcoming 2024 elections.

“Following a number of consultative meetings with the [party’s] General Secretariat and the governorates’ secretariats, the Supreme Council voted in favour of supporting Al-Sisi [in the upcoming presidential elections],” the party leaders said in a joint statement.

The party claimed that support for Al-Sisi stems from a “firm conviction” of the necessity of a leadership “capable of managing and strengthening state institutions, and leading them to cooperate in a manner commensurate with the magnitude of the risks and challenges facing Egypt and the entire region.”

Sisi Era – Cartoon [Carlos Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]

The party urged its members and all Egyptians to participate in the elections, to be keen on building and aware of negativity, despair and frustration.

The statement added that the party has contributed to supporting Al-Sisi with a working paper that includes the party’s vision for work priorities during the next phase.

Social media users slammed the party for its “hypocrisy”. They highlighted that the Salafist Party worked to depose Egypt’s first freely elected President, Mohamed Morsi, and now backs a candidate that does not represent any of its demands.

The Egyptian National Elections Authority announced that nominations for the presidential elections will begin on 5 October, with the first round of voting due to take place on 10 December and continue for a period of three days.

On Monday, Al-Sisi officially announced his candidacy, calling on Egyptians to elect him. Former MP Ahmed Tantawi is considered Al-Sisi’s most prominent competitor in the upcoming elections.

READ: Egypt journalist slams Sisi regime over ‘engineered elections’