Egypt prepares for ‘Putinesque’ presidential election
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has just one challenger after other candidates were arrested or forced to drop out

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Voters in Egypt will head to the polls next week in a presidential election that has been widely dismissed as a farce.
Half a dozen potential challengers to incumbent Abdel Fattah el-Sisi have ended up in jail or dropped out of the race citing intimidation and threats of violence.
One opponent remains, but critics allege he is a token candidate designed to give the election an appearance of legitimacy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“This is Putinesque: call an election (Egypt’s is scheduled for March 26-28) and then use the police and military to be sure no one can run against you,” says US think tank the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sisi, a former army general who won 96% of the vote in 2014 after taking power in a military coup, has rejected claims that this election will not be free and fair.
“The door is open to everyone,” his campaign said in response to criticism from international human rights organisations. “Sisi is not to blame for people refraining from running in the election.”
Who is running against Sisi?
Moussa Mostafa Moussa, the leader of a small nationalist party who had previously thrown his weight behind Sisi’s re-election campaign, announced his candidacy just minutes before the deadline in January, fuelling speculation that he was working in league with the government.
The Ghad Party leader insisted that “we are not puppets in this race” - but has done minimal campaigning and has said he hopes Sisi will win.
Opposition activists, journalists and analysts have dismissed Moussa “as a dummy candidate, standing only to give the impression of a full democratic contest”, Reuters reports.
The president’s last serious challenger, former army general Ahmed Shafik, dropped out of the election race earlier this year following claims by his family that he had been detained by security forces.
Separately, another potential presidential candidate, Colonel Ahmed Konsowa, was arrested in December after announcing plans to run. He was sentenced to six years in prison by a military court for “stating political opinions contrary to the requirements of military order”.
The government’s elimination of potential competitors has so far drawn no public rebukes from Egypt’s key Western ally, the US, nor from European nations, according to The Washington Post.
What are the issues?
The Arab world’s most populous nation is facing crippling economic instability, soaring poverty levels and an ongoing threat from Islamist militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
Sisi has promised to cut taxes and reduce bureaucracy in order to boost investment, Al Jazeera reports.
Last month, he launched a massive military offensive against the local Islamic State affiliate in the Sinai region, vowing to bring an end to a bloody conflict that has killed hundreds of people.
Michael Morgan, an Egyptian doctor living in the US, said he was inclined to re-elect Sisi because of his support for the country’s Christian minority.
“As a Coptic Christian, I think we finally have a president that wants to make the Christians feel that they are part of the country, treated as Egyptians,” Morgan told news broadcaster Voice of America.
But punishing austerity measures, rising prices and declining subsidies have triggered public frustration, and put Sisi’s popularity at risk, the Post says.
Who will win?
If neither candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off will be held in April. But the regime’s brutal crackdown on dissent has all but guaranteed victory for Sisi.
“This is a profoundly depressing but wholly expected turn of events in Egypt,” says The Guardian.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Biden's first rodeo
cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biden's stumble
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Travis Kelce chats about Taylor Swift's Chiefs game visit, Hollywood writers thrilled with details of new contract as strike ends, and more
The daily gossip: September 27, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Rebuilding Ukraine: What would it take?
In Depth Russia continues to raze large sections of Ukraine, but that gives Kyiv a unique opening to build a better country — if somebody is willing to pay
By Peter Weber Published
-
Is it time the world re-evaluated the rules on migration?
Today's Big Question Home Secretary Suella Braverman questions whether 1951 UN Refugee Convention is 'fit for our modern age'
By The Week Staff Published
-
A Ukraine election in 2024: how it would work
The Explainer Zelenskyy hints that country is ready for March polls but logistical, security and democratic obstacles remain
By Harriet Marsden Published
-
How Ukraine's claimed kill of Russia's top Black Sea Fleet admiral could affect the war
Speed Read Ukraine says it killed Russian Adm. Viktor Sokolov and 33 other senior commanders in an audacious and expertly timed strike in Crimea
By Peter Weber Published
-
Azerbaijan attacks disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, breaking cease-fire
The 'local anti-terrorist' strikes in the ethnic Armenian enclave threaten to reignite a war with implications for Russia, Turkey and the West
By Peter Weber Published
-
Canada's Trudeau accuses India of role in assassination of Canadian Sikh leader
Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat after going public with explosive 'credible allegations' that Indian agents helped kill a Canadian citizen
By Peter Weber Published
-
US-Iran prisoner swap: has Biden given in to blackmail?
Republicans condemn $6bn deal but it could help de-escalate rising tensions
By The Week Staff Published
-
Russia and Ukraine face off in The Hague over genocide case
Kyiv is hoping court will rule Russia's actions illegal but Moscow wants the case dismissed
By Rebekah Evans Published