2023 Egyptian presidential election

2023 Egyptian presidential election
Presidential elections are due to be held in Egypt in December 2023, as announced by the National Election Authority, after speculation that the elections might be held earlier than expected. Candidate registration was from 5–14 October 2023 and the election will be held in Egypt from 10 to 12 December; expatriates will vote from 1–3 December.
Incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who initially came to power in the aftermath of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, is eligible for re-election since term limits were adjusted from four to six years by a constitutional amendment in 2019, and he technically will not have served as president for more than the maximum of 12 years at the time of the election. His rule has been described as authoritarian.
Background
Incumbent el-Sisi won the 2018 elections with over 97% of the vote, and faced only nominal opposition (a pro-government supporter, Moussa Mostafa Moussa) after several opposition figures were prevented from participating following the military arrest of Sami Anan, threats made to Ahmed Shafik with old corruption charges and an alleged sex tape, and the withdrawal of Khaled Ali and Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat due to the overwhelming obstacles presented, and violations committed, by the elections committee.
Since 2022, Egypt was in the midst of an economic crisis, including record high inflation causing the Egyptian pound to lose nearly half its value from March 2022 to January 2023 and a shortage of foreign currency, the latter of which driven in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the crisis, roughly 30% of the population was already living below the poverty line, with an additional 30% considered vulnerable to poverty. Additionally, the country's external debt bill tripled in the ten years prior. Egypt had put several state-owned companies and stakes up for sale in a bid to raise money, and about half of the 2023/24 budget is allocated to debt servicing. The IMF has also requested that the Egyptian pound transition to a fully floating exchange rate in order for a round of loans to be released. Government spending on projects without a return on investment, such as the New Administrative Capital, were also blamed for contributing, in addition to a persistent trade deficit and continuing influence of the military in economic affairs. Moody's labeled Egypt as one of the top five economies most at risk of defaulting on foreign debt in 2023.
Submitted candidates
The following candidates submitted their nomination papers:
Hazem Omar, chairman of the Republican People's Party (has received 44 MP endorsements) (submitted candidacy on 13 October)
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, current president of Egypt (has received over 1 million voter endorsements and 424 MP endorsements; submitted candidacy on 7 October)
Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the New Wafd Party (has received 22 MP endorsements) (submitted candidacy on 9 October)
Farid Zahran, chairman of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (has received 28 MP endorsements) (submitted candidacy on 8 October)
A finalized list of qualified candidates will be released on 9 November.
Non-submitted candidates
The following candidates had declared their intent to run, but did not submit their nomination papers:
Fouad Badrawi, former MP for the New Wafd Party
Ahmed El-Fadaly, chairman of the Democratic Peace Party
Withdrawn candidates
Gameela Ismail, head of the Constitution Party (withdrew on 11 October)
Ahmed Tantawi, former head of the Dignity Party and former MP for the 25-30 Alliance (has received around 14,000 endorsements) (withdrew on 13 October due to lack of endorsements)
Electoral system
The president of Egypt is elected using the two-round system for a term of six years, renewable once.
A candidate can either secure the endorsement of 20 MPs or "25,000 eligible voters across at least 15 governorates."
Controversies
Tantawi's mobile phone was hacked using the Predator spyware. Citizen Lab and Google's Threat Analysis Group indicated that the attempts began as early as May 2023 and continued through August, using various methods, leading Apple to issue security updates on 21 September to patch the vulnerabilities exploited by the spyware.
Tantawi suspended his campaign for 48 hours on 27 September following harassment and arrests of his supporters.
On the evening of 2 October, small-scale anti-Sisi protests broke out in Mersa Matruh with protesters burning photos of el-Sisi and chanting anti-Sisi chants.
Supporters of Tantawi have faced difficulties in submitting endorsements.
References
Egypt
Presidential
Presidential elections in Egypt