EGYPT: Egyptian presidential candidates appeal to voters as the election approaches in which former Defence Minister Sisi is widely expected to win.

Record ID: 347148

  • Title: EGYPT: Egyptian presidential candidates appeal to voters as the election approaches in which former Defence Minister Sisi is widely expected to win.
  • Date: 11th May 2014
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (MAY 10, 2014) (REUTERS -- ACCESS ALL) SISI SUPPORTERS ARRIVING AT CAMPAIGN RALLY VARIOUS OF CROWD GATHERED AT RALLY YOUNG SISI SUPPORTERS BEATING DRUM AND CHANTING CROWD GATHERED IN FRONT OF STAGE JOURNALIST MOSTAFA BAKRI ON STAGE SISI SUPPORTERS PLAYING MUSIC AND DANCING SISI SUPPORTER PLAYING FLUTE CROWD WAVING FLAGS AND DANCING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FORME
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7IEEBHYGTQ8XBXAM9S3X22KRS
  • Story Text: With Egypt's presidential elections just weeks away, the two rival candidates are campaigning hard to set themselves apart from each other.
    The race pits former Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah Sisi against leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, with Sisi widely expected to win by a large margin.
    While Sisi has focused his campaign on appealing to the public's desire for security and stability after three years of turmoil, Sabahi has presented himself as a reformer and the only true 'revolutionary' candidate.
    Former Armed Forces chief Sisi shot to prominence after he ousted elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2003 following mass protests against Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
    A wave of nationalism has kept him in the spotlight ever since.
    Sisi's message of austerity, patriotism and security has won over broad swathes of the electorate beaten down by years of civil strife and economic depression.
    Egypt has seen some of the worst civil unrest in its modern history in the 11 months since Mursi's ouster.
    Over 1,500 pro-Mursi protesters were killed by the security forces and thousands more imprisoned.
    The Egyptian government says a campaign of bomb and shooting attacks by militants has killed over 500 police and soldiers during the same period.
    At a large campaign rally on Saturday night in Cairo that was not attended by Sisi due to security concerns, former Sports Minister Taher Abu Seid said that Sisi was the right man to lead the country during this challenging time.
    "I will speak briefly because I was a close colleague of this man. I saw how eager he is, and I saw his bias towards the poor. I think Egypt needs him during this phase. He deserves it more. He is more worthy. He is more in touch with his people and through the love the people have for him, I believe he could lift Egypt out of this difficult phase over the next few years," he said.
    Opponents of Sisi fear that the military will play a role in politics for years to come should he win, and that the former Defence Minister will protect it from scrutiny.
    One of his supporters, women's rights activist Rana Hamdi said those fears are unfounded.
    "Both of them [Hamdeen Sabahi and Abdel-Fattah Sisi] are good. In respect to Field Marshall Al-Sisi, his stand with the people on June 30 had an effect on all Egyptian people regardless of their differences in opinion. Even if people are saying that he comes from a military background and therefore some past faults could be repeated, I do not believe that this could happen because Al-Sisi is politically experienced and understands what the Egyptian people need," she said.
    But while Sisi appears to have more resources at his disposal and bigger rallies than his opponent, for the time being the candidate himself has kept his distance from his supporters.
    While Sabahi criss-crosses the country trying to build grassroots support, security concerns have limited Sisi to television interviews.
    Sabahi, who finished third in the election that brought Mursi to power, portrays himself as a man of the people, and says that poorer Egyptians and young people will propel him to victory. He has placed an emphasis on fighting corruption, reforming the Interior Ministry and has also promised to alter a controversial law restricting protests.
    At a recent campaign rally in Benha, in Egypt's Nile Delta, he promised to help farmers and lift the burden of poverty.
    In contrast to Sisi, who recently warned newspaper editors not to push press freedoms, Sabahi told his audience that they would not have to choose between bread and freedom if he becomes president.
    "I am telling you, the youth, the future of this country, social justice will not be complete except through a democratic system. We do not want a president who will feed us but muzzle our mouths. We do not want a president who will order us to chant and yell when we do not have employment or education," he said.
    But Sabahi says he has no illusions that he is taking part in a fair fight.
    Sisi is the establishment candidate, and both state and private media have been instrumental in building up his sometimes cult-like support.
    But Sabahi, who models himself on Egypt's nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, says he must fight to win regardless.
    "To get a real democracy in this country we have to fight, to capture a piece of democracy. I'm not idealist to think that it's a fair election. It isn't. But also I'm not idealist to stay in my home waiting the paradise of democracy to come," he said.
    With most polls putting Sisi firmly in the lead, Sabahi faces an uphill challenge if he is to make Egypt's presidential elections a real contest.
    And with two weeks to go before Egyptians go to the polls, he is wasting no time in making his appeal directly to the voters he needs to come out if he is to stand any chance of beating Egypt's popular former Defence Minister.
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