2023-10-02 20:00:06
Egypt’s authoritarian head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi wants to secure a third term in office in the presidential election in December. The 68-year-old ex-general announced this on Monday evening in a speech broadcast on television. Pro-government channels showed images of cheering crowds following his speech on screens in Egyptian cities.
The most populous country in North Africa is suffering from a severe economic crisis, record inflation and a drastic fall in the value of the national currency. Sisi came to power in 2013 after a military coup and has ruled Egypt with a hard hand ever since. It is expected that the electoral authorities will once again declare him the winner of the vote by a large margin. Only thanks to a constitutional change in 2019 is he allowed to run for a third term, which was also extended from four to six years – i.e. would last until 2030.
Human rights activists denounce the fact that civil liberties, which have already been restricted in Egypt for a long time, have been further curtailed under Sisi. Critics of the government are being persecuted using drastic methods and have to fear arbitrary arrests and worse.
Egypt has around 105 million inhabitants, 65 million of whom are eligible to vote, according to media reports. Many of them are suffering from sharp price increases and tough government austerity measures. According to official figures, around a third of the population lives in poverty; the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher.
In the last election in 2018, Sisi ran against only one opponent – a self-proclaimed supporter of the president – and was then re-elected with an official 97 percent of the vote. Critics spoke of a “farce”.
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