Egyptian Election Update by “Zawia3”
Sisi Moves Quickly
🗞️ Collecting Support Authorizations for current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seems to have happened faster than the time it takes to grab a quick lunch. “President Sisi gathered the presidential candidacy endorsements (25,000 Support Authorizations) in 10 minutes, and the President has the backing of the Parliament, meaning he has the support of the people and the parliament,” said the journalist Ahmed Moussa. If you remember Sisi’s competition in the last elections, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, the head of the Al-Ghad Party, did not announce his candidacy this time. However, he instructed his party to gather endorsements for President Sisi from various governorates and contacted the Minister of Justice to activate the endorsements electronically to facilitate the process for citizens. Yet, he did not announce the result of this call and whether the Minister of Justice approved the request or not.
If you want to know how Sisi gathered the endorsements at such speed, you can read our report published on September 15th about security forces collecting personal IDs of pedestrians, obtaining copies of them in Imbaba, downtown Cairo, and café owners in areas like Daher and Waili, and government employees received orders revolving around electing Sisi for a third presidential term, with almost complete tightening and no opportunity to discuss any other potential candidates. There are threats if one considers releasing a legal endorsement in the real estate registry for another candidate. From here.
The Number of Detainees in Tantawi’s Campaign Exceeds the Number of Support Authorizations
🗞️ The possibility of Ahmed Tantawi running for the Egyptian presidency seems to be fading; the number of detainees in cases related to supporting Tantawi has reached 73, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which is a greater number than the endorsements Tantawi managed to obtain. Tantawi said, “My campaign has exceeded 23,000 members, and we gathered two endorsements in one day.” Tantawi complained about security restrictions and not allowing his supporters to obtain endorsements in various locations. He explained that “one of our campaign leaders went to four notary headquarters, he was attacked in three of them, and he returned to the headquarters injured, demanding to continue the journey.” Tantawi announced in a video, “I am suspending my campaign for two days to catch our breath.”
Gameela Ismail: First Endorsement at the Real Estate Registry
🗞️ Gameela Ismail, the head of the Constitution Party and a potential candidate for the presidential elections, announced the submission of the first official endorsement for her candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections.
Farid Zahran: Parliament is Easier Due to Time Constraints
🗞️ Maha Abdel Nasser, Deputy Head of the Egyptian Democratic Party headed by the potential presidential candidate “Farid Zahran,” said, “The party relies on the endorsement of the deputies, given the representation of 7 members in the parliament, in addition to relying on friendly parties.” She explained that “endorsing the deputies is the easiest way given the time constraints.”
Abdul Sanad Yamama: I have A Historic Opportunity To Win The Presidency
🗞️ If you do not know him, do not worry; there are millions of Egyptians who have not heard of him, Abdl Sanad Yamama is the head of the Wafd Party and a potential candidate for the presidential elections from the party. It appears that Yamama has succeeded in gathering endorsements supporting his candidacy for the presidency, as the members of the parliament for the Wafd Party, totaling 26 deputies, all gathered yesterday, Tuesday, September 26, to sign endorsements supporting Yumama.
Earlier, Yamama sent a statement to a number of journalists stating that “he has a historic opportunity to win in the upcoming presidential elections.” Ymama has great confidence that he will not be an easy competitor in the presidential elections, to the extent that he said in media statements, “I will resign from the presidency of the Wafd Party if I lose the presidential elections by a significant vote difference.”
