CAIRO – 26 March 2018: About 60 million Egyptians are to begin casting their ballots on Monday, and continue for three consecutive days, to elect the country’s next president, in a race pitting the incumbent president Abdel Fatah Al Sisi against El Ghad party chairperson Moussa Moustafa Moussa.
The 2018 Presidential Election is the third poll to take place in Egypt since the January 2011 revolution. Egyptian expatriates have already voted on March 16-18 in 124 countries.
As part of our coverage of the election process, Egypt Today presents important must-know facts for voters:
- Egyptians who are above the age of 18 have the right to vote. The eligible voters for this year’s presidential election are sixty million. Active members of the Armed Forces and police are not allowed to vote.
- Article 2 of the political rights law (Law 45/2014) bans from voting those who suffer from mental disorders or are under judicial interdiction, or who have been convicted of a felony.
- Voting shall be conducted for three days from March 26-28. Polls will be opened over a twelve-hour period, from 9am till 9pm (local time).
- At polling stations, each voter is expected to present their National ID card to the official who supervises the ballot.
- Voters are not allowed to cast their ballots in polling stations other than their residence, unless they have registered their data either at a court or any real estate registration offices across Egypt.
- Voter can find their electoral committees through the
of the National Election Authority (NEA).
- According to the NEA, the presidential election will be supervised by 18,620 judges (primary and substitute), including 8,420 regular judges, 4,800 administrative prosecutors, 3,300 judges from State Lawsuits Authority and 2,100 judges from State Council.
- A number of international organizations will participate in observing the presidential election nationwide. These organizations include the Arab League (AL), African Union (AU), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and COMESA-CENSAD.
- Ministry of Interior announced that 200,000 security personnel are mobilized nationwide to secure the electoral process and all state vital institutions, archeological sites and main streets.
- Ministry of Health deployed 2,887 equipped ambulances across polling stations, main roads and squares in all governorates to deal with any threatening incidents during the election.
- Three fully-equipped medical convoys, with different medical specialties, will be also stationed in each governorate during the election. Enough emergency blood supplies and medicine for six months will be provided to all hospitals during the election.
- Presidential candidates need 51% of votes cast to win a first round vote. If no candidate makes the mark, a runoff vote is scheduled.
- The primary results of the first round of the election will be announced on March 29, where decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, will be made. The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2. If there is a need to hold a run-off round, Egyptian expats will cast their vote again on April 19-21. The final 2018 presidential election results are expected to be announced on May 1.
Who are the presidential candidates?
The NEA has approved two official candidates for the 2018 presidential election, as follows:
Abdel Fattah Al Sisi
President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi
Current President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi seeks a second term in office to continue his achievements made during his four-year term.
Sisi became president after winning the 2014 Presidential Elections, a few months after he resigned from the country’s armed forces.
Sisi used to be Egypt’s Minister of Defense and Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, under former president Mohamed Morsi who was toppled in July 2013 following mass public protests.
Born on November 19, 1954, Sisi grew up in Gamaleya neighborhood, near the Al-Azhar Mosque, in a quarter where Muslims, Jews and Christians resided peacefully.
Sisi graduated from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1977, and then received his commission as a military officer serving in the mechanized infantry, specializing in anti-tank warfare and mortar warfare. He became Commander of the Northern Military Region-Alexandria in 2008 and then Director of Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance. Sisi was the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of Egypt.
He was also trained at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Watchfield, Oxfordshire, in the United Kingdom, and t the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Sisi was appointed Minister of Defense in August 2012.
Sisi’s first term in office has been defined by several things: the fight against terrorism, ambitious infrastructure projects like the new Suez Canal and the new Administrative Capital, and a wide economic development strategy that was launched in 2016.
President Sisi showed his intention to run for the presidency during his 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 the projects and achievements made in different fields over the last four years.
On his official Twitter account, Sisi called on the Egyptian people to participate intensively in the upcoming election and give their votes to whomever they see most eligible.
Sisi is married to the first lady Entissar Amer and has four children; three sons and a daughter.
Moussa Moustafa Moussa
Chairperson of Al Ghad Party Moussa Mostafa Moussa
Moussa Moustafa Moussa is a professional architect, who ventured into politics at an early age as a member of the Wafd party.
Moussa, who heads the Egyptian Council for Arab Tribes, became the chairperson of Al-Ghad Party in September 2005, following fierce disputes with the party’s founder Ayman Nour.
Moussa seeks to succeed President Sisi, however he praised the progress and achievements made by Sisi over the previous 4 years.
An hour before the deadline of submitting the candidacy application to the National Election Authority (NEA) on January 29, Moussa’s lawyer submitted his application to stand in the presidential election scheduled to be held by the end of March.
Moussa received endorsements from 20 Members of Parliament – the majority of them representing Monufia Governorate – required to run the election.
Moussa’s bid came a few days after President Sisi submitted his candidacy papers to the NEA to run for a second term.
Born on 13 July, 1952, Moussa earned a master’s degree in Architecture from École Nationale Supérieure d’architecture de Versailles in France. Moussa is married and has two daughters.
Comments
Leave a Comment