Egypt poll fears

CAIRO: More than a dozen international and regional rights groups said next month’s presidential election in Egypt did not meet the “minimum requirements” for a fair and free vote and called on Cairo’s allies to denounce the “farcical” election.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is virtually certain to win, his only challenger an obscure politician and one of his most ardent supporters.

The 14 groups said yesterday that the government had “suppressed freedoms, arrested potential candidates and rounded up their supporters”.