CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, elected virtually unopposed in 2014, faces a high-profile challenger in next year’s election, but the rival who lives in exile is seen more as an inconvenience.
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq announced his candidacy this week from the UAE, saying Egypt was facing “many problems in all aspects of life.”
El-Sisi, a former army chief whose election came less than a year after he overthrew President Muhammad Mursi in July 2013, has not officially declared his candidacy.
But he looks all but certain to run in — and dominate — the election.
Shafiq, who narrowly lost to Mursi in 2012 presidential polls, is one of the few candidates who could come close to challenging El-Sisi, experts say.
“The government is afraid of any candidate but especially of Shafiq... who has much more political experience than El-Sisi himself had” before coming to power, said Hassan Nafaa, emeritus professor of political science at Cairo University.
A former aviation minister and airforce general, Shafiq was hastily appointed prime minister by Hosni Mubarak in 2011 before the longtime leader was ousted by a popular uprising.
Shafiq did not last long in the job after Mubarak’s overthrow, and in the presidential race held the following year finished close behind the winner, Mursi.
Shafiq, who left Egypt in 2012 for the UAE, was tried in absentia on corruption charges after his election defeat but was acquitted.
On Friday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in Rome he sees “no reason” why Shafiq should not run. “He is free to represent himself to the electorate.”
Nafaa said Shafiq is feared by the government for his record as a serious presidential contender and one-time premier with links to the military.
But “with or without Shafiq, the elections will not be real,” he added, because “the government wants El-Sisi to win a second term at any cost.”
Pro-regime commentators immediately criticized the candidacy of Shafiq, who will have to wait until early next year to officially register for the election.
Lawmaker and TV show host Mostafa Bakry described him as the “candidate of (the revolutionary movement known as) April 6, revolutionary leftists... and the Muslim Brotherhood,” Mursi’s group which is outlawed in Egypt.
Shafiq’s party has hit back with condemnation of what it called a “campaign of fierce denigration” since his election bid was announced.
The leftwing opposition has also distanced itself from the Mubarak-era premier.
“Shafiq will not present a policy radically different from the current regime,” said Elham Eidarous, campaign chief for human rights lawyer and El-Sisi critic Khaled Ali who also plans to run for the presidency.
Elected in 2014 with 96.9 percent of the votes, El-Sisi said in early November that he did not intend to run for a third term in 2022 but left the door wide open to a re-election bid next year.
The challenge from Shafiq could force El-Sisi to plunge deeper into the political fray to defend his record. Criticized by human rights groups but popular with many Egyptians, El-Sisi’s regime insists the priority is to fight terrorism and boost the economy — pledges that were at the heart of his 2014 campaign.
Challenger more nuisance than threat for Egypt’s El-Sisi
Challenger more nuisance than threat for Egypt’s El-Sisi
Israel’s Supreme Court suspends govt move to shut army radio
- Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station.
In a ruling issued late Sunday, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said the suspension was partly because the government “did not provide a clear commitment not to take irreversible steps before the court reaches a final decision.”
He added that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported the suspension.
The cabinet last week approved the closure of Galei Tsahal, with the shutdown scheduled to take effect before March 1, 2026.
Founded in 1950, Galei Tsahal is widely known for its flagship news programs and has long been followed by both domestic and foreign correspondents.
A government audience survey ranks it as Israel’s third most listened-to radio station, with a market share of 17.7 percent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged ministers to back the closure, saying there had been repeated proposals over the years to remove the station from the military, abolish it or privatise it.
But Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser and is facing dismissal proceedings initiated by the premier, has warned that closing the station raised “concerns about possible political interference in public broadcasting.”
She added that it “poses questions regarding an infringement on freedom of expression and of the press.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Galei Tsahal broadcasts “political and divisive content” that does not align with military values.
He said soldiers, civilians and bereaved families had complained that the station did not represent them and undermined morale and the war effort.
Katz also argued that a military-run radio station serving the general public is an anomaly in democratic countries.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid had condemned the closure decision, calling it part of the government’s effort to suppress freedom of expression ahead of elections.
Israel is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2026, and Netanyahu has said he will seek another term as prime minister.
