Zawia3’s Election Newsletter
The National Authority Announces Readiness for Voting Abroad
The National Election Authority announced that it has completed all preparations to hold the Egyptian presidential election abroad, scheduled for 1, 2 and 3 December.
The number of Egyptians abroad eligible to vote has reached about 14 million, according to a statement by Ambassador Soha Gendy, Minister of State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates’ Affairs.
The authority began the trial operation of the devices and software used in the electoral process, which will take place in 137 embassies and consulates in 121 countries, with Counsellor Ahmed Bendary, director of the executive body of the National Election Authority, and the relevant specialists within the authority holding several virtual meetings with ambassadors and heads of sub-committees at Egypt’s embassies and consulates abroad, in which the guiding rules and governing controls of the electoral process abroad were reviewed and all related legal, organisational and technical enquiries were answered, in addition to following up on the preparations of diplomatic missions abroad in this regard.
The National Election Authority said in a statement on Wednesday that every Egyptian who is abroad and registered in the voter database has the right to cast their vote in the electoral process using their national ID card or a valid passport containing the national ID number, whether resident or travelling for a short period.
A Judge for Every Ballot Box
Counsellor Hazem Badawy, head of the National Election Authority and Deputy President of the Court of Cassation, said that Egypt is one of the few countries whose electoral events are supervised by an independent body enjoying complete independence and neutrality, in whose work or powers no interference is permitted.
He added that Egypt is the only country in which the electoral process is subject to full judicial supervision, with a judge supervising every ballot box in its sub-committees spread across the country, which is the fundamental guarantee and safe haven for the transparency and integrity of elections.
Counsellor Hazem Badawy called on all voters to go to the polling places and express their opinion in (complete freedom), saying that the authority is entrusted with protecting this right and ensuring that every vote in the ballot box has an impact on the election result.
Farid Zahran’s Campaign: Development after Change
Moataz El-Shennawy, official spokesperson for presidential candidate Farid Zahran’s campaign, said that development will not happen except by changing the system that brought us to what the village of Abu El-Rish is living through, a village that has not been reached by sewerage, like many villages in Upper Egypt that fell, by oversight or deliberately, out of officials’ calculations.
During his opening speech at the Edfu conference in Aswan in support of presidential candidate Farid Zahran, El-Shennawy said that peaceful change comes from “electing presidential candidate Farid Zahran as President of the Republic”. He pointed to the need for local elections to monitor and hold negligent bodies accountable, and said that this step is what will restore the image of Egypt that everyone dreams of.
In his speech, he called on the Egyptian people to turn out and take part in the upcoming presidential election to choose the change that must be seen tangibly on the ground, according to his statement.
Presidential candidate Farid Zahran’s campaign held a conference yesterday, Wednesday, in the city of Edfu in Aswan, the campaign’s ninth mass conference.
Hazem Omar’s Campaign: We Practise Politics without Restrictions
Zaher El-Shoqonqeiry, head of the Defence and National Security Committee of the Republican People’s Party and official spokesperson for Hazem Omar’s presidential campaign, said that the party’s decision to nominate Hazem Omar for the presidential election was a well-studied decision at the party level.
El-Shoqonqeiry added in press statements that no harassment or restrictions were reported during the collection of popular endorsements for Hazem Omar’s candidacy, and that his election campaign practises political work without restrictions worth mentioning.
He stated that although the party supports the state, the Republican People’s Party distinguishes between supporting the state and having diverse points of view, especially on economic matters. El-Shoqonqeiry considered that the current election differs from the previous one because it is taking place in a stable post-terrorism period, which pushes towards focusing on decisive economic decisions within a democratic framework.
Yamama’s Campaign: All of Egypt Knows Our Candidate
Yasser El-Hodaiby, head of the Wafd Party’s parliamentary body in the Senate and official spokesperson for the election campaign of presidential candidate Abdel Sanad Yamama, head of the Wafd Party, said that his candidate Abdel Sanad Yamama is of good conduct and character and has great morals, and that for me he is the best now in the upcoming presidential election.
The head of the Wafd Party’s parliamentary body in the Senate added in statements on Wednesday that Abdel Sanad Yamama has many great qualifications: he is a university professor who holds a doctorate from the University of Nancy in France, has a large body of writings and many strong pleadings, most notably the largest case in the Middle East, the New York Towers case, besides having been a member of the Committee of 100 in the adoption of the 2012 constitution.
El-Hodaiby said that all of Egypt knows the Wafd Party and Dr Abdel Sanad Yamama, who has been a politician for 20 years.
Sisi’s Campaign: We Are Approaching the Birth of Political Momentum
The official campaign of presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that during “the 2024 presidential election, Egypt is witnessing an electoral process that generates a state of political momentum full of vitality”.
Sisi’s campaign added in a post on its official Facebook page: “To complete the journey of building, work and development, we endorse and support candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.”
4 Presidential Candidates
A few days ago, the legal period set for candidates in Egypt’s presidential election to withdraw their candidacy from the race ended, leaving the race with 4 candidates: current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi; Abdel Sanad Yamama, candidate and head of the Wafd Party; Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party; and Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
The competing candidates received their electoral symbols: Sisi received the star, Zahran the sun, Yamama the palm tree and Omar the ladder.
The National Election Authority launched on its official website the database of polling centres where citizens whose names are registered in the voter database will cast their votes.
The authority issued Decision No. 30 of 2023 on determining the locations of sub-committees and counting in the election, after distributing the 67 million voters among the sub-committees inside 10,085 polling centres across the republic.
The database includes all the names and addresses of the school premises containing polling centres throughout the republic, specifying all the data of the polling centre where each citizen will cast their vote.
The National Election Authority set a number of controls and prohibitions on election campaigning, setting the maximum campaign spending at 20 million in the first round and 5 million in the run-off.
The authority decided to ban the use of religious slogans in campaigning, or the use of places of worship, universities, government buildings and public transport in campaigning, as well as banning anything that affects national unity and the safety of society. It also banned the use in any way of buildings, facilities and means of transport owned by the state, public sector companies or the public business sector.
According to the timetable, election campaigns are scheduled to stop and the campaign silence period for the election of Egyptians abroad to begin on 29 November, while the campaign silence period for the election of Egyptians at home is set to begin on 8 December, and the result is set to be announced on 18 December if the election is decided in the first round.
In the event of a run-off, the election for Egyptians abroad will be held on 5, 6 and 7 January 2024, while the election for Egyptians at home will be held on 8, 9 and 10 January, with the results announced on 16 January 2024.
