First it seemed as if Al-Sisi would have to run alone in the elections. Now one of his biggest supporters is competing against him.
Find a German version of this article here.
As serious rivals of Al-Sisi started vanishing from the race one by one, it looked like the pre-race phase was going to be more interesting than the race itself. Shafik, a former Prime Minister, who disappeared for a day after getting deported from the UAE to Egypt, after announcing his candidacy. Then Konsowa, the young hopeful colonel, who was sentenced to six year in military jail for publishing a candidacy video. There was also the older high ranked retired general, Enan, who is now also facing a secret military trial. Last, there was the leftist human rights lawyer, who decided to withdraw while also facing a similar fate of going to jail if his appeal on a “public indecency case” got rejected.
With Al-Sisi now left as the sole candidate in the presidential race, many talk-show hosts started calling for parties or politicians to nominate someone to fill in the empty space. The problem was not concerning the legality of the elections, as according to Article 36 of the presidential elections law, “Voting for the election of the President of the Republic shall be held [even with] only one candidate.”
“Al-Wafd, the party that ruled Egypt from 1924 to 1952, cannot nominate a candidate for the elections!” shouted Basma Wahba, an Egyptian TV host, in her talk-show. “Please extend the deadline for the candidacy documents submission,” that was the title of Emad Adeeb’s column at ElWatan, an Egyptian nationalistic newspaper. “We are trying to convince Sayed Al-Badawi to run…I expect the result to be in president’s Al-Sisi’s favor...However, it will be better to have a candidate from an important party like Al-Wafd in the elections,” said Mostafa El Feki, honorary president of Al-Wafd party, in a phone call to dmc TV-channel.
Emergency candidate
On January 26, it was reported that the leader of Al-Wafd, a liberal nationalist Egyptian party, Sayed Al-Badawi, is intending to run. His party, however, announced that its official stance on this issue is still pending and called for an emergency meeting. “The supreme committee of Al-Wafd has discussed the recent requests asking the party to present a candidate in the upcoming elections. After long deliberations, [we] decided to reconfirm our previous decision of supporting president Al-Sisi in the elections,” announced Hani Sarie-Eldin, member of the supreme committee of Al-Wafd party, on January 27, declaring that the party will not field a candidate in the presidential elections.
“We discussed whether Al-Wafd will make the elections look better by stepping in or not. We found out that joining the battle now will give an even worse impression of fake competition,” said Yasser Al-Hudaibi, member of the supreme committee of Al-Wafd party, to CBC TV-channel, “in a country, like Egypt, that does not have a complete democracy yet and is facing terrorism, [the state] should have applied the theory of democratization by preparing three candidates from different parties, but with same patriotic background, to compete against the president until we reach the real democracy.” Which theory he is talking about exactly remains unclear, it probably shouldn’t be understood in an academic context.
Last minute candidate
On February 24, the Egyptian National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced that the Egyptian presidential race of 2018 will consist of two candidates: Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Moussa Mostafa Moussa, leader of Al-Ghad party.
“Anyone who seeks candidacy must have popularity, charisma, ideas and projects to present to the citizens. He must be able to offer 10 per cent of what [Al-Sisi] has accomplished. Who can compete with the president now? Or should anyone run just to say: I am a candidate,” declared Moussa in September 2017, during a television interview. And still, on January 29, Moussa, an unknown face to many Egyptians, submitted his candidacy documents literally ten minutes before the final deadline.
Not only is Moussa now Al-Sisi’s only rival, but he is also one of his biggest supporters: “We want the president to sweep the elections, not just win…We want him to exceed 90 per cent of the votes to be able to continue the plan he started,” said Moussa during a television interview he gave as the founder of the “supporters” campaign on September 22. The campaign was established in 2017 to collect votes for Al-Sisi in the presidential elections of 2018. According to the NEC, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi won the elections of 2014 with 96.9% against his only rival Hamdeen Sabahi who received 3.1% of the total valid votes.
“The ‘Supporters’ campaign was not just aiming to support the president, but also present programs and ideas,” explained Moussa during a television interview on March 22, “[after the recent developments] it was not acceptable for us to watch the elections turn into a referendum. Especially, that we know the Muslim Brotherhood are awaiting such an opportunity and there is also the others who are calling for a boycott of the elections. So we as the supreme committee of the party decided that I should run, mainly because we have a valuable program.”
Video: Moussa declaring his candidacy
On January 31, Lawyer Tarek El Awady filed a case in the Supreme Court to disqualify Moussa from the presidential race. He claimed that the candidate does not hold a higher education degree and also that he was convicted in the past over issuing dud cheques. According to Article 1 of the presidential elections law, a candidate must “possess a higher educational qualification” and “not have been convicted for any felony or crime involving moral turpitude, or dishonesty, even if the candidate had been rehabilitated thereafter”. On February 19, Samir Elewa, Moussa’s legal advisor, denied these allegations to Mehwar TV-Channel. He claimed that the candidate has a degree from a French university that equals a Bachelor’s degree in Egypt and that the dud cheque cases were resolved at the time. On February 21, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit as “only candidates are eligible to object the candidacy of any other applicant”, according to Article 13 of the presidential elections law.
“Everyone knows that the election results are predictable. However, people admire my courage for stepping in, in these difficult circumstances,” stated Moussa, during one of his final interviews before the voting days, to the Egyptian AlHayah TV channel, “I feel that I have already won. I won the elimination of the enemies of the country. Their target was to [ruin the scene]. I played a patriotic role that I am proud of. I wish to win the elections, too.” The election results are scheduled to be announced on April 2.
Calls for elections boycott
“We will not participate in this ‘farce’. This is not an election. No guarantees, no candidates and no freedoms, then it is not an election,” announced Hamdeen Sabahi, former presidential candidate in 2014, during the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM) press conference on January 30. “Our slogan is: stay at home…This regime is responsible for this [situation], because of its oppression, cruelty and arrogance.” CDM is an alliance of various opposition parties and more than 140 public figures, formed in December 2017. “There has been no contact with Shafik or Anan campaigns. However, we stand behind the constitutional right of any Egyptian citizen to run, even if we disagree with them,” announced Yehia Hussein, CDM’s spokesperson. On February 1, more than 100 politicians and public figures signed a statement “condemning all the security and administrative procedures this regime has used to eliminate any fair competition in the upcoming elections”.
Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, former presidential candidate in 2012, among others signatories, demanded “the cancellation of the current elections as they became invalid”. Shortly after, it was reported that the Egyptian public prosecutor has started investigating cases filed against the CDM and other public figures, who endorsed the calls for boycott, like the renowned Egyptian film director Daoud Abdel Sayed, for accusations such as “plotting to overthrow the regime”.
A video from the official campaign of the 2018 presidential elections "You say your voice is not important or that you will boycott, because nothing will change... Our country is fighting terrorism, internally and from all directions, alone...this time it does not matter who will win. What matters is showing the world that the Egyptians unite when their country is attacked."
“Egypt: planned presidential vote, neither free nor fair. EU and US should speak out,” reported Humans Right Watch. “The United States, European Union, and European states, which provide substantial financial assistance to the Egyptian government, should consistently integrate human rights into their relations with Egypt. These countries should halt all security assistance that could be used in internal repression and focus aid on ensuring concrete improvements to protect basic rights.” “I
am particularly worried by numerous reports in the run up to the elections about the arrest and intimidation of potential candidates and their supporters, massive restrictions on the freedom of expression and of assembly, and repressive action against the independent media,” stated Bärbel Kofler, German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, commenting on the situation in Egypt.
On the same day the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin replied in an official statement, rejecting the Kofler’s claims: “[We] stress our complete rejection regarding the unacceptable interference in Egypt’s internal affairs and all the non-objective analysis of the Egyptian reality. [We] wished the German commissioner would have let Egypt fulfill its path toward democracy, modernity and respect of human rights, especially before the beginning of the fourth elections to take place after the July 30 revolution, without adopting such stances.” Al-Sisi: “I am not a politician!” On January 19, Al-Sisi declared his intention to seek re-election at the end of a three-day conference, aired live on various Egyptian TV and Radio channels, where achievements of his first term were presented.
Video: Al-Sisi declaring his candidacy
In order to be considered eligible for candidacy, a person must submit the endorsements of either a minimum of 20 members of the parliament (MPs) or at least 25.000 eligible voters. On January 28, the NEC announced that Al-Sisi has secured 549 endorsements of MPs (out of 596 members) and the support of 161,707 voters. “Do not let anyone tamper with the security of Egypt or take you, Egyptians, on a track that will ruin this country…I swear that all [these accomplishments] would have never been achieved without stability, security and you Egyptians…I would die before letting anyone mess with Egypt’s security,” said Al-Sisi in a firm voice, during the inauguration ceremony of “Zohr “gas field, one day after CDM’s press conference. “Be aware! What happened here seven years ago will not be repeated! What has failed back then will not succeed now. Seems like you really do not know me…I am not a politician, who just talks…The country is not built with words…I fear God only!”
Name of the author altered due to security concerns.
