Voter apathy expected in Egypt’s polls
Free and fair elections in doubt
CAIRO: Egypt’s presidential polls opened yesterday but voter apathy was expected with incumbent president Abdel Fatah El Sisi expected to win a second term in office after all credible opponents were unable to challenge him after claiming intimidation by the authorities.
But the big – and rhetorical question – is how free and fair the twoday elections will be, with analysts and critics saying the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
“The only real suspense in Egypt’s upcoming presidential election – scheduled for later this week – is how close Sisi will get to securing 100% percent of the vote, Dr Mohamad Elmasry, an Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar, wrote in an Al Jazeera article.
Even as the polls opened yesterday, media reports of voter apathy were making headlines.
The North African country’s 60 million eligible voters have little choice. It’s Sisi or a littleknown businessman who had previously expressed support for the president.
Fearing the accusation from critics that the election was a sham the government has put massive effort into trying to encourage voters to cast their vote, including slick media campaigns and buying votes.
Sisi took over as Egyptian president in the wake of the July 2013 military coup which saw the country’s first-ever democratically-elected president, Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, overthrown after he won the 2012 elections.
“Several would-be contenders for the presidency were arrested shortly after declaring their intentions to oppose Sisi, who, in the lead-up to voting, has taken totalitarian measures to ensure a singular media narrative in the country,” Elmasry’s article said.
At the end of February Cairo delivered “guidelines” preventing news outlets from conducting polls about the election or asking Egyptians whom they plan to vote for. Critical television journalists were also “removed from the air”.
The president further warned at the beginning of this month that any criticism of the police and army amounted to treason.
Furthermore, Egyptian authorities recently called on Egyptian citizens to report media outlets critical of the Sisi regime, Elmasry pointed out.
Currently, 20 journalists are incarcerated in the North African country which ranks third in the world for imprisoning journalists.
“The recent wave of political eliminationism and anti-media repression comes against the backdrop of an already repressive postcoup period,” Elmasry said.
Between 2013 and 2017, Egyptian authorities massacred hundreds of unarmed protesters, banned rival political parties and organisations, shut down oppositional television networks, and blocked hundreds of news and NGO websites.
“The regime has also routinely used mass arrests, forced disappearance, and torture to further consolidate power and intimidate opponents,” Elmasry added.
Only one candidate, Moussa Mustaf Moussa, has been allowed to run against Sisi.
However, he is regarded as a token figure as only two months ago he helped gather signatures on behalf of Sisi’s campaign.
Several leading Egyptian opposition figures earlier in the year called for a boycott of the elections citing a wave of repression that eliminated any serious contenders.
A string of candidates had already withdrawn from running in the election by the January 29 nomination deadline – over concerns of intimidation.
Signatories to the boycott included Abdel Moneim Abol Foutoh, an Islamist who garnered nearly a fifth of first round votes in a 2012 presidential race; Hesham Genena, a prominent former anti-corruption watchdog chief; and Mohamed Anwar Sadat, who halted his own presidential bid out of concern for the safety of his campaigners.
Genena – who had been working to elect former military chief-of-staff Lieutenant General Sami Anan, currently under arrest at a military prison, was attacked outside his home in what his lawyer described as a failed kidnap attempt.