Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has announced his intention to run for a second term in the presidential election scheduled for December 2023. He will face six challengers from different political parties and backgrounds.
The candidates who have declared their bids so far are Ahmed Al-Tantawy, a former MP and ex-leader of the Nasserist Karama Party; Gameela Ismail, the head of the liberal Dostour Party; Farid Zahran, the head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party; Abdel-Sanad Yamama, the head of the Wafd Party; Hazem Omar, the head of the People’s Republican Party; and Ahmed El-Fadaly, the head of the Democratic Peace Party.
The registration period for the presidential candidates will run from 5 to 14 October. To qualify, a candidate must either have the endorsement of at least twenty members of the House of Representatives or the support of at least 25,000 eligible voters from at least 15 governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 supporters from each governorate.
The National Elections Authority said that the presidential election will take place on 10-12 December for the domestic voters and on 1-3 December for the expatriate voters. The results will be announced on December 18th and published in the Official Gazette. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, a runoff will be held on 8-10 January for the domestic voters, and on 5-7 January for the expatriate voters. The final results will be announced and published by 16 January.
The election comes at a time of economic hardship for Egypt, which is suffering from a severe currency devaluation and record-high inflation. The Egyptian pound has lost more than half of its value against the US dollar since late 2022, and inflation has soared to over 37%. The economic crisis has been worsened by the war in Ukraine, which has disrupted global trade and increased energy prices.
Egypt’s economy has been struggling for years, but it faced a major setback in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the tourism sector hard, and the war in Ukraine, which affected the country’s exports and imports.
Earlier, Egypt’s National Dialogue stressed the importance of ensuring the impartiality of the state institutions and bodies in the upcoming presidential election. They called for equal treatment of all candidates, respect for their constitutional and legal rights, and provision of equal opportunities.
The National Dialogue outlined several principles for conducting a pluralistic and competitive presidential election, which they considered essential for completing the democratic transition process in Egypt.
They highlighted the right of any individual interested in running for the presidency to freely campaign, seek endorsements, interact with voters, and receive fair media coverage.
The National Dialogue urged all Egyptian political forces, including the regime supporters, the opposition groups, and the independent individuals, to recognize the upcoming presidential election as a significant step towards building a modern civil democratic state.
