Egypt presidential campaigns start

CAIRO — Campaigning began in Egypt’s presidential elections this weekend, a contest pitting a little-known candidate against the incumbent, general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is considered virtually certain to win.

Set for almost a month, campaigning ends March 23 and the vote is staggered over three days — March 26-28.

Moussa Mustafa Moussa, chairman of the small secular Al-Ghad party, is an ardent el-Sissi supporter and entered the race at the eleventh hour. A string of potentially serious challengers, including a former prime minister and military chief of staff, have been arrested or intimidated out of the race.

Hundreds of billboard advertisements in support of the incumbent have over the weekend sprung up alongside existing ones on the streets of Cairo, almost all bearing the image of a smiling el-Sissi.

Campaign banners for the challenger, Moussa, are conspicuously absent. His campaign, however, said his banners would be displayed later on Sunday in several Cairo neighborhoods.

Moussa told the independent al-Shorouk daily in an interview published Saturday that he did not intend to request a debate with el-Sissi. “I am a pragmatic and realistic man and I know that el-Sissi has massive achievements to his name,” he said.

In addition to arresting and intimidating would-be candidates, authorities are investigating leaders of opposition parties as well as public figures who branded the election a “sham.”

Separately, the election commission has issued guidelines for the media’s coverage of the election. They include the prohibition of publishing the findings of any opinion polls during the five days preceding the start of the vote and until it ends.