Sisi's candidacy surpasses 900K endorsements by Egyptians

CAIRO - 30 January 2018: More than 900,000 Egyptians signed endorsement forms for incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to run for a second term as Egypt's president, as announced by his legal adviser on Monday.

Sisi's official campaign held Monday its first press conference to explain the electoral platform.

Several issues were tackled by the campaign's spokesperson Mohamed Bahaa el-Din Abu Shoka during his speech on Monday January 29, including the number of the endorsement forms that were collected, the campaign's criteria and rules for its members and volunteers, their final configuration, Sisi's Electoral Program and their preparations in case President Sisi was the only candidate during the elections.

"There is no place in the world where you can blame a candidate for the lack of competition. Every president in the world, not just Egypt, has the right according to the law to run for a second term and complete his vision for the country; there is nothing wrong or illegal about that." Abu Shoka said.


President Abdel Fatah al Sisi elections campaign first conference presented by spokesperson Mohamed Bahaa el-Din Abu Shoka, Monday January 29, 2018- Hassan Mohamed


He added that it is the other political parties' fault that they cannot compete during the election. "We hoped to have real competition; however, until now we have only one official competitor; Chairperson of El Ghad Party Moussa Mostafa Moussa," Abu Shoka added, explaining that even if Sisi were the only candidate, the election would continue as it is, in accordance to Article 36 of the law.

"We witnessed a lot of pre-emptive attacks on the presidential election before, including the 2014 presidential election; however, the final results prove every time that our procedures are always transparent and fair for all parties," Sisi's campaign spokesperson said in his speech. He added that one of the campaign's main principles is to "respect the competitors", regardless who they are.

After explaining the processes of submitting the endorsement forms by the citizens and how they examined and classified the forms according to Egypt's governorates, Abu Shoka started to talk about the campaigns' members and board affirming that they are not done yet with the final formation of the committees, and that it is set to be announced in an official statement soon.

"We are also working on an internal regulation form to organize the campaign's work; the form will be issued and sent to President Sisi to be approved as soon as we can," Abu Shoka said, explaining that they are completely aware that they are not just an ordinary election campaign, but the campaign of the current Egyptian president.


President Abdel Fatah al Sisi elections campaign first conference presented by spokesperson Mohamed Bahaa el-Din Abu Shoka, Monday January 29, 2018- Hassan Mohamed


Abu Shoka affirmed that they have very strict rules regarding dealing with anyone affiliated with a governmental entity or organization. "We are very clear about being Sisi's campaign only as a candidate. Anyone who gives a speech under the campaign's name will be representing only himself, not the whole campaign or our candidate, President Sisi," Abu Shoka asserted.

Regarding Sisi's Electoral Program, Abu Shoka explained that the idea of having a specific program has been replaced all over the world by the idea of having a "vision". "The winning candidate should be questioned by the end of his term in office about the decisions and choices he made. And soon enough president Sisi will announce his vision for his second term," Abu Shoka said.

Most of the people working in Sisi's campaign right now are volunteers, according to Abu Shoka. "There is no real or huge budget for the campaign until now. Most of our members are volunteers and many people tried to contact us offering help; however, no final decision was taken in this regard yet," he added.



Abu Shoka called on all Egyptians to participate in the upcoming election that is due on March 26, describing it as the "country's safety valve" for a better future.

"On January 24, I headed to the National Election Authority (NEA), with all the needed documents and about 173,000 citizens' endorsement forms as well as 549 MPs' petitions for Sisi, asking for the recognition of Sisi as an official candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Until now he is not an official candidate but will be as soon as the NEA issues its final list of official candidates, Abu Shoka stated in the conference.



On January 19, President Sisi announced his candidacy for a second term in the 2018 presidential election, which is scheduled to be held from March 26 until March 28 for Egyptians residing in Egypt.

The announcement came during Sisi’s closing speech at the end of the three-day “Tale of a Homeland” conference, where the president and the Egyptian government presented an overview of projects and achievements made in different fields during the last four years.

Sisi also expressed his intention to run for president on his official Twitter account, calling on the Egyptian people to participate intensively in the upcoming election by voting for whomever they see most eligible. Sisi won nearly by 97 percent of votes in the 2014 presidential election.

According to Abu Shoka, Sisi received a total of 915,000 endorsement forms from the citizens; however the final official number is expected to be announced by the
NEA in its initial report on presidency candidates set to be issued on January 30, 31.