Egypt's presidential elections to conclude amid 'lack of equal opportunities'

The final day of voting in the 2024 presidential elections is due to conclude on Tuesday, 12 December, at 9 PM local time (7 PM GMT) amid a relatively high voter turnout compared to previous rounds.  

Around 45 per cent of registered voters have cast their ballots till the closure of polling stations on Monday, the second day of elections, according to the country's National Elections Authority (NEA).

Even though the executive director of NEA, Ahmed Bendari, told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday morning that there were no significant violations observed at polling stations across the country, witnesses confirmed to The New Arab that voters were gathered and carried in buses to vote for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in return for boxes containing less than 100 Egyptian pounds (around US$3.25) worth of essential commodities.

In several areas around the country, the pro-regime Mostaqbal Watan (A Nation's Future) party gathered mobs in buses to vote for Sisi despite his running as an independent candidate.  

In a lower-middle-class area in Giza province, southwest of the capital Cairo, a rickshaw driver told TNA that he saw "people mobilised in buses after being promised either a bottle of cooking oil or a kilogram of sugar in return for their votes."

"Fellow women in the neighbourhood gathered and went to vote to get the groceries, but my husband refused to let me go with them. We all know that Sisi is winning anyway. So why not get hold of anything they offer," a poor woman said to TNA as she washed a car at a parking lot in Haram district in Giza.

Plain-clothed police officers organised the electoral process, which technically is held under judicial supervision. Meanwhile citizens, both men and women, of different age groups, seemingly poor, could be seen outside several polling stations visited by TNA, carrying Egyptian flags, dancing to patriotic songs and chanting slogans in support of Sisi.

The election result is widely considered to be a foregone conclusion for most Egyptians, particularly after previous elections held from 2014 onwards gave improbable majorities to Sisi, and all were marked by the detention of rival candidates.

"There is no question Sisi will sweep the vote, but this time in specific he seemed to have wished for showing the world that he has a wide base of popularity among citizens, despite his government's ongoing socio-economic mismanagement," a prominent political sociologist told TNA on condition of anonymity.

"In a nutshell, the vote has been marred by lack of equal opportunities as Sisi is known for maintaining a strong relationship with the army, the interior ministry, and the judiciary, offering them rewarding financial benefits," the expert added.   

"I refrained from voting anyways as the result is already known," one banker in Giza's upper-middle-class area of Sheikh Zayed told TNA.

In recent months, prices of basic commodities in Egypt, including sugar, rice, oil, and bread, have soared, further adding to the general state of discontent in the North African country, especially among poor and average-income households.   

The elections were initially expected in early 2024 but brought forward a few months earlier. The final result of the three-day election will be released on 18 December in case no run-off is required.

Two presidential hopefuls had withdrawn from the contest, ostensibly for not meeting the required conditions: Ahmed Tantawi, a former MP and journalist, and Gameela Ismail, the head of the Al-Dostour party and a former TV presenter.

Tantawi was referred to a criminal trial last month for allegedly circulating unauthorised printed endorsement forms for the elections, among other charges. His electoral campaign manager and 21 other campaigners were also detained earlier.

Sisi came to power after leading a coup in 2013 as defence minister against Egypt's first-ever democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood group, outlawed in Egypt since 2014. Morsi died in a courtroom in 2019 after years of being allegedly exposed to medical neglect in prison.

This year's election came amid severe socio-economic instability and a continued crackdown on human rights and freedom of expression. It is also taking place amid Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza, which borders Egypt's once-restive North Sinai province, and civil war in neighbouring Sudan.