Egypt's Sisi cruising towards victory in subdued election

Egyptians cast their ballots today on the third and last day of a presidential election expected to give President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi a sweeping victory in the absence of real competition, Reuters reports.

Many Egyptians have shown little interest in or knowledge about the election, although authorities and commentators on tightly controlled local media have been urging them to vote out of national duty.

“I will not vote because I am sick of this country,” said 27-year-old taxi driver Hossam, who said his quality of life had deteriorated under Sisi’s decade-long rule.

“When they hold a real election I will go out and vote,” he said.

The election, which began on Sunday, is Al-Sisi’s third since taking power in 2013 after the bloody military coup he carried out against Egypt’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi.

International monitors have criticised Egypt’s human rights record under Al-Sisi’s rule, accusing the government of repressing political freedoms.

The election featured three other low-profile candidates. The most prominent potential challenger halted his run in October, saying officials and thugs had targeted his supporters – accusations dismissed by the national election authority.

Critics say the election is a sham and former general Al-Sisi’s popularity has been eroded amid a grinding economic crisis and a decade-long crackdown on dissidents.

Al-Sisi’s human rights record has come under fire as tens of thousands have been jailed over the past decade.

The government’s media body has said the elections are a step towards political pluralism and authorities have denied violations of electoral rules.

Yesterday, the National Election Authority said that turnout on the first two days of voting had reached about 45 per cent, surpassing that of the last presidential election in 2018, however, critics cast doubt on these figures.

Reuters reporters who have been covering the elections in Cairo, Giza, Suez, and al-Arish over the last three days have witnessed crowds in front of polling stations, some being bussed in, but a relative trickle of citizens casting their votes.

“Each time Egyptians are asked to vote they are poorer than the last time, and Sisi is less popular, yet turnout is on the rise? No one, not even Sisi’s few remaining supporters, believes this is a real election,” said Timothy E. Kaldas, a policy fellow at Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

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