Egypt: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Wins Presidential Polls Third Time, Calls Israel-Hamas War Main Challenge

With no real competitors, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi easily won a third term as Egypt’s president on Monday. He declared the victory a rejection of the “inhumane war” being waged against Gaza, his neighbour.

He received 89.6% of the vote in the election, which was conducted while Egypt attempts to control the possibility of a spillover from the conflict near its Sinai Peninsula and battles a lingering economic crisis.

In the most populous country in the Arab world, a lot of people said the outcome of the election on December 10–12 was inevitable, expressing apathy towards it.

The election authority reported that turnout had reached 66.8%, significantly higher than the 41% recorded at the polls, thanks to strong efforts by the state and tightly controlled domestic media.

“Egyptians lined up to vote not just to choose their president for the next term, but to express their rejection of this inhumane war to the entire world,” Sisi stated in a speech shortly after the declaration of the results.

Egypt’s main challenge, according to him, is the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas.

Following a raid into Israel by Hamas, Israel launched a massive bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip, resulting in the destruction of most of the enclave and the displacement of its inhabitants. Egypt has declared that it will not permit any Gazans to leave the country.

There were three other candidates in the election, but none of them were well-known. The most well-known possible rival withdrew from the race in October, claiming that his supporters had been singled out by authorities and thugs. The election authority rejected these claims.

Former general Sisi led the overthrow of Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader in Egypt, in 2013, and since then, he has presided over a broad crackdown on dissent from all political persuasions.

With 97% of the vote, he was re-elected to the presidency in 2018 after being elected in 2014. In 2019, the constitution was changed to permit Sisi to run for a third term and increase the length of the presidency from four to six years.