All the president’s challengers are scared off
The Egyptian leader is using arrests, prosecutions and intimidation to make sure of his re-election
On Tuesday morning Sami Anan settled into the back of his chauffeured car for a short drive to his office in Zamalek, an affluent Cairo neighbourhood on an island in the Nile.
The 69-year-old former general had announced days earlier that he was running for president – standing against President Abdel Fattah el-sisi, his former comrade – and, as the car wove through traffic, his staff were planning the next steps in their campaign.
But nearing the entrance to the 6th October Bridge, a small fleet of cars was waiting for them. Mr Anan’s driver was forced to pull over to the side of the road and in a moment they were surrounded by armed men from Egypt’s intelligence services.
Mr Anan was taken before an army prosecutor and accused of violating military law by venturing into politics. His home was raided by police hours later and his aides quickly announced they were suspending the campaign.
For Egypt’s scattered democrats, the arrest of the most prominent candidate standing against Mr Sisi was a sign that the government had abandoned even the pretence that the presidential election in March would be a fair vote.
Few expected a real chance to vote Egypt’s authoritarian president out of office, but many hoped the campaign would be an opportunity for at least a muted public debate about Mr Sisi’s handling of the economy and suppression of dissent.
Instead, at least four opponents have been arrested or prosecuted, while others have been intimidated out of running, and the elections have turned into a dreary re-coronation of Mr Sisi which can be watched but not influenced by Egypt’s 90 million citizens.
“We are in the midst of a real tragedy,” said Hishem Genena, a former state auditor who was put on trial for “disseminating false news” after he exposed vast government corruption. He later joined Mr Anan’s campaign as a potential vice-president.
“There is no political situation in Egypt. I would be deceiving you and deceiving myself if I said Egypt has politics any more,” he said.
Cairo’s Tahrir Square stood cold and empty this week, with only bored riot policemen in black uniforms marking the seventh anniversary of the January 25 revolution which overthrew the Mubarak regime in 2011. A year later, millions of Egyptians voted in the country’s only truly contested election and delivered a narrow victory for Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. But the crowds were soon back in the square protesting Mr Morsi’s rule and the military toppled him in 2013.
Mr Sisi took power, first in uniform as the head of the military and then in suit and tie after winning the 2014 presidential election with an official 97 per cent of the vote. In the years since he has crushed dissidents, beginning with the Muslim Brotherhood and spreading to anyone else who spoke out. But many Egyptians were still shocked to see how ruthlessly the state turned on opponents like Mr Anan, who came from within the military establishment.
Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander, returned from years of exile in the UAE to run in the election but disappeared into the custody of the intelligence services on his return to Cairo. When he was released, he announced he was no longer running.
Mohamed Anwar el-sadat, a former MP and the nephew of the assassinated president Anwar el-sadat, also thought of throwing his hat into the ring.
“From the first step it was very obvious we would have no chance,” Mr Sadat said. “Trying to reserve a hotel room for a press conference, cancelled. Trying to print some materials – they were all afraid to work with us.”
Mr Sadat ultimately abandoned the campaign out of fear for his staff. “We were scared they might be stopped, detained or arrested and there would be nothing we could do. It’s not that I’m scared for myself, I’m scared for those who support me,” he said.
A little less than 24 hours after Mr Anan was arrested, the final opposition candidate dropped out of the race, saying his staff were being arrested. Supporters of Khaled Ali, a labour lawyer, cheered as their candidate quit – happy that no one would accuse them of legitimising a sham election.
The abruptly empty presidential field left Mr Sisi facing the embarrassing prospect that his name would be the only one on the ballot paper in March. And then something strange happened: the small Wafd Party suddenly announced it was planning to field a presidential candidate against Mr Sisi.
The party votes with Mr Sisi in parliament and two weeks ago its leadership endorsed him for reelection in glowing terms. The son of one of Wafd’s top officials is a spokesman for Mr Sisi’s campaign.
Egyptians took to social media to mock the Wafd for agreeing to play the part of a token challenger in Mr Sisi’s election. “Good job Sisi, you know how to choose an excellent extra!” one woman wrote.
‘I would be deceiving you and deceiving myself if I said Egypt has politics any more’