Egypt announces presidential election dates from December 10 to 12

Egypt's National Election Authority announced on Monday that the presidential elections will be held in December, against the backdrop of a deep economic crisis in the country.

The head of the authority, Walid Hamza, stated in a press conference that the presidential elections will take place over three days from December 10th to 12th, approximately four months before the current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's term ends in early April next year.

President al-Sisi, who has been in power since 2014, has not officially declared his intention to run for a third term, though analysts suggest it is highly likely.

Observers believe that the decision to advance the presidential election date is linked to the harsh economic measures that Egyptian authorities may need to take at the beginning of the next year to address the economic crisis, especially the issue of external debt (amounting to $165 billion), the repayments of which are due in the coming months, while Egypt faces a shortage of foreign exchange reserves.

Egyptians are already grappling with declining purchasing power as inflation reached a new record high of around 40% in August.

In recent months, Egypt has witnessed a 50% depreciation of the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies.

So far, one opposition candidate, former parliament member Ahmed al-Tantawi, has initiated an election campaign against al-Sisi. He has been outspoken in condemning the "crimes" committed by security agencies against his supporters and campaign members, with at least 35 of them recently detained.

Al-Tantawi, known for his sharp criticisms of the authorities in parliament, also revealed that his mobile phone has been under surveillance since September 2021 after Citizen Lab in Toronto confirmed the use of spyware to compromise his device.

Another opposition figure, Hisham Qassem, the leader of the Free Egypt Party (a coalition of liberal opposition parties), was recently sentenced to six months in prison, rendering him ineligible to participate in the electoral process.



AFP