Sisi decides to stand for re-election
cairo — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Friday he would stand in a presidential election due to take place in March.
“I announce to you in the honesty and transparency which we are used to... my candidacy for the post of president of the republic,” Sisi said at a conference in Cairo, broadcast live on state television. Sisi is widely expected to win in the first round, set for March 26-28.
Egypt’s former army chief, Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after leading the military’s ouster of his predecessor Mohamed Mursi amid mass protests against the Islamist’s year-long rule. —
cairo — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Friday he would stand in a presidential election due to take place in March.
“I announce to you in the honesty and transparency which we are used to... my candidacy for the post of president of the republic,” Sisi said at a conference in Cairo, broadcast live on state television.
Sisi is widely expected to win in the first round, set for March 2628. Egypt’s former army chief, Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after leading the military’s ouster of his predecessor Mohamed Mursi.
Sisi announced his candidacy on Friday during the final segment of a three-day conference named “Story of a Nation” which showcased his accomplishments during his first term.
He said he had “done all I could”. “Regardless of who your vote will be for, all that I wish of you (is that you) show the world your participation in the elections and choose whoever you wish to,” said Sisi.
So far, two prominent potential candidates have announced that they will not take part in the poll.
Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, who had been seen as a major rival to Sisi, said on January 7 that he would not be a candidate, reversing a pledge he made in November.
On Monday, Mohamed Anwar
Regardless of who your vote will be for, all that I wish of you (is that you) show the world your participation in the elections and choose whoever you wish to Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Egyptian President
Sadat, a dissident and nephew of Egypt’s late president of the same name, announced he would not run in the poll because the climate was not right for free elections.
Other potential candidates include Khaled Ali, a rights lawyer and 2012 presidential candidate who challenged the government over Egypt’s controversial transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
It remains unclear whether he will stand, as he was sentenced in absentia in September to three months in jail on accusations of “offending public decency”, a ruling he appealed.
Ali said only the committee organising the election could decide whether that disqualified him as a candidate. Separately, military Colonel Ahmed Konsowa was sentenced by a military court in December to six years in jail after he announced his intention to stand.
The head of Egypt’s Zamalek football club, Mortada Mansour, said on Saturday he would put forward his candidacy. — AFP