Presidential elections were held in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
between 26 and 28 March 2018,
though
Egyptians abroad voted from 16 to 18 March 2018.
On 19 January, incumbent President
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
formally announced he would run for a second and final term.
El-Sisi won the election with 97%, according to the official results. A runoff would have taken place 19 to 21 April outside the country and 24 to 26 April within the country if no candidate had reached 50% of the vote. The election had a turnout of roughly 41%, lower than the 2014 election's 47%. A
2019 constitutional change allowed El-Sisi to remain in power until 2030 instead of 2022.
Fourteen human rights groups dismissed the poll as "farcical." They said the authorities had "trampled over even the minimum requirements for free and fair elections", stifling basic freedoms and eliminating key challengers.
The only approved challenger to Sisi was another pro-government politician,
Moussa Mostafa Moussa.
Electoral system
The
president of Egypt
The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the E ...
is elected using the
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
. The winner will be announced on 2 April (if no run-off is needed). If a run-off is needed, the final result will be announced on 1 May.
[ If only one person runs for the presidency, he or she can win with a yes vote from five percent of the eligible voters.]
Boycotts
The Civil Democratic Movement announced on 30 January 2018 that it would boycott the vote.
Candidates
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the incumbent president of Egypt.[ After leading the 2013 military coup that overthrew Egypt's first democratically elected president, el-Sisi retired from his military career in 2014 and subsequently won that year's presidential election.] In the announcement of his candidacy, he stated, "There are people I know who are corrupt, I will not allow them to come near this chair.” President Sisi received the endorsement of 464 members of Egyptian Parliament
The Parliament of Egypt is the bicameral legislature of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the House of Representatives).
The Parliament is located in Cairo, Egypt's capital. Under th ...
, approximately two thirds of the body.
Moussa Mostafa Moussa
Ghad Party chairman Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a pro-Sisi politician who had an active role in collecting nomination pledges for Sisi's second term until 20 January, announced that he found endorsements from 26 members of parliament, as well as 47,000 signatures from the public, although he declared his intention to run just a day before the deadline of the elections commission. Moussa submitted his nomination pledges and official paperwork to the commission just 15 minutes before the deadline. In an interview with ''Egypt Today'', Moussa said he was not a "phony" candidate, and that he had "a vision that can be achieved by being part of the system".
Declined candidates
*Ahmed Shafik
Ahmed Mohamed Shafik ZakiAlso spelled: ''Shafiq''. ( ar, أحمد محمد شفيق زكى, ; born 25 November 1941) is an Egyptian politician and former presidential candidate. He was a senior commander in the Egyptian Air Force and later ser ...
, former Egyptian prime minister and leader of the Egyptian Patriotic Movement
The Egyptian Patriotic Movement, or Egyptian National Movement ( ar, الحركة الوطنية المصرية) is a political party initiated by former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Abu Hamed, former vice chairman of the Fr ...
and 2012 presidential candidate.
Withdrawn candidates
*Khaled Ali
Khaled Ali (also spelled Khaled Aly; arz, خالد على, ; born 26 February 1972) is an Egyptian lawyer and activist. He is known for his advocacy for reform of government and private sector corruption and for promoting social justice and l ...
, a human rights lawyer and former head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) and 2012 presidential candidate, announced his intention to run for the presidency on 6 November 2017. Ali withdrew on 24 January 2018 after the arrest of another candidate, Sami Anan. He had also been convicted of making "an obscene gesture" outside a courthouse and was in the appeal process.
*Sami Hafez Anan
Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Anan or Enan ( ar, سامى حافظ عنان, ; born 2 February 1948) is an Egyptian military officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces from 2005 until August 2012, until his retirement was ...
, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, officially announced his candidacy in
Facebook video
on 19 January 2018. He was arrested on 23 January after being accused by the Egyptian Armed Forces
The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptia ...
of forging his release from military service. It is illegal in Egypt for active military personnel to participate in politics. Anan retired from military service in 2012 after being removed by then-president Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012
El-Sayyid el-Badawi
El-Sayyid el-Badawi Shehata ( arz, السيد البدوى شحاتة, ) (born 1950) is an Egyptian businessman and the President of Al-Wafd Party. He is the head of the Board of Directors of Al-Hayah Egyptian television network.
Early life
Ba ...
, chairman of the New Wafd Party
The New Wafd Party ( ar, حزب الوفد الجديد, , New Delegation Party), officially the Egyptian Wafd Party and also known as the Al-Wafd Party, is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.
It is the extension of one of the oldest and his ...
.[
*]Mortada Mansour
Mortada Ahmed Mohamed Mansour ( ar, مرتضى أحمد محمد منصور; born 17 June 1952 in Cairo) is an Egyptian lawyer who serves as president of Zamalek SC since 2014. Mansour announced his intention on 6 April 2014 to pursue the preside ...
, chairman of Zamalek Sporting Club
Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East,
and ...
.
*Mohamed Anwar Esmat Sadat
Mohamed Anwar Esmat Sadat (محمد أنور عصمت السادات; born 1955) is an Egyptian politician. He was a member of the Egyptian Parliament during the rule of Hosni Mubarak. He is related to two prominent Egyptian politicians, as the ...
, expelled MP, chairman of the Reform and Development Misruna Party
The Reform and Development Party ( ar, حزب الأصلاح و التنمية ''Hizb Al-Islah wa Al-Tanmiyah'') is a liberal political party in Egypt.
History and profile
The Reform and Development Party was founded in 2009. The founders of the ...
, former chairman of the Egyptian House of Representatives' Human Rights Committee and nephew of Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
.
Conduct
Supporters of former presidential candidates Sami Hafez Anan
Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Anan or Enan ( ar, سامى حافظ عنان, ; born 2 February 1948) is an Egyptian military officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces from 2005 until August 2012, until his retirement was ...
and Khaled Ali
Khaled Ali (also spelled Khaled Aly; arz, خالد على, ; born 26 February 1972) is an Egyptian lawyer and activist. He is known for his advocacy for reform of government and private sector corruption and for promoting social justice and l ...
faced difficulties in registering pledges for them. It was reported that el-Sisi exerted pressure on former presidential candidates so that they would not run against him.
According to ''Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'', "the March vote will in no way confirm President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's popularity among the Egyptian people. This election campaign is merely an extension of the internal power struggle among the military and the regime's security services, and it has nothing to do with democratic mechanisms worthy of the name."
Results
Following the elections, it was reported that large number of spoilt ballot papers, possibly more than a million, involved voters crossing out both names and writing that of football player Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egypt ...
.
References
{{Egyptian elections
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
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A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
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Presidential elections in Egypt