CAIRO: A little known Egyptian politician who heads a party without a single seat in parliament submitted his candidacy documents to the election commission on Monday, becoming a last-minute challenger to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
El-Sisi is virtually certain of winning a second, four-year term in the March 26-28 vote. But after a string of would-be challengers were arrested, forced out or quit the race, the prospect of a one-candidate election has proven embarrassing for the government.
Pro-government media and public figures loyal to el-Sisi had pressured one of Egypt’s oldest political parties, the Wafd, to field a candidate. But after two days of marathon deliberations, the party decided Saturday not to field a candidate and instead to renew its support for a second term for the president.
Moussa Mustafa Moussa of the Ghad, or Tomorrow, party, was the subject of intense speculation over the weekend, with many predicting he would step forward as a face-saving candidate. On Monday, one of his top aides submitted documents to the election commission on his behalf.
Monday at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) was the deadline for submitting candidacy documents.
Would-be challengers who are no longer in the race include a former prime minister, a former military chief of staff, a prominent rights lawyer and a former lawmaker. They were unlikely to win the race, but their participation would have attracted protest votes against el-Sisi, including from Egyptians hit hard by the president’s austerity measures and other economic reforms.
“We supported President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi against his challengers, but, of course, we saw fit to enter the race after everyone pulled out and the president was left alone,” Moussa told a morning news show aired on CBC, a private, pro-government network. He said he has the support of more than 20 elected lawmakers.
The constitution stipulates that anyone wishing to run for president must have the support of at least 20 elected lawmakers or 25,000 “recommendations” from voters.
A previous leader of the Ghad Party, Ayman Nour, ran against Egypt’s long-ruling President Hosni Mubarak in 2005, in the country’s first multi-candidate election. Nour lost by a huge margin amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging and was jailed in December of that year.
Nour had fired Moussa before he was jailed, but Moussa returned and defeated him in a leadership battle in 2011, the same year Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising. Nour is now a harsh critic of el-Sisi’s rule and lives in exile abroad.
El-Sisi led the 2013 ouster of a freely elected but divisive president, the Islamist Muhammad Mursi, and has since overseen what is perhaps the largest crackdown on dissent in the country’s living memory. Thousands of Mursi supporters have been jailed, along with secular activists. Most critics in the media have been silenced, human rights groups have been heavily restricted and scores of online news sites have been blocked.
Five opposition figures, including a 2012 presidential candidate and two top campaign aides for now-arrested presidential hopeful Sami Annan, called for a boycott of the vote, saying it has lost all credibility.
In a statement Sunday, they also called on Egyptians not to recognize the presidential vote’s outcome if it goes ahead.
The statement was a bold move that could be perceived as an attempt to derail the electoral process by authorities that have shown little tolerance for dissent. It is also likely to encourage more expressions of discontent over what critics see as the president’s increasingly authoritarian traits.
Earlier on Monday, prosecutors said they have detained three men over the assault on the country’s former top auditor, Hesham Genena. Genena, who was sacked by el-Sisi after alleging widespread corruption, had come out in support of Anan, a former military chief of staff who was seen as a potentially strong challenger before his arrest. The prosecutors said the suspects were ordered detained for four days, pending investigation. They face charges of armed robbery.
Annan was arrested by the military last Tuesday on several charges, including incitement against the armed forces and forgery.
Obscure politician is face-saving challenger in Egypt vote
Obscure politician is face-saving challenger in Egypt vote
Syrian army pushes into Aleppo district after Kurdish groups reject withdrawal
- Two Syrian security officials told Reuters the ceasefire efforts had failed and that the army would seize the neighborhood by force
ALEPPO, Syria: The Syrian army said it would push into the last Kurdish-held district of Aleppo city on Friday after Kurdish groups there rejected a government demand for their fighters to withdraw under a ceasefire deal.
The violence in Aleppo has brought into focus one of the main faultlines in Syria as the country tries to rebuild after a devastating war, with Kurdish forces resisting efforts by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led government to bring their fighters under centralized authority.
At least nine civilians have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled their homes in Aleppo, where Kurdish forces are trying to cling on to several neighborhoods they have run since the early days of the war, which began in 2011.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Standoff pits government against Kurdish forces
• Sharaa says Kurds are ‘fundamental’ part of Syria
• More than 140,000 have fled homes due to unrest
• Turkish, Syrian foreign ministers discuss Aleppo by phone
ِA ceasefire was announced by the defense ministry overnight, demanding the withdrawal of Kurdish forces to the Kurdish-held northeast. That would effectively end Kurdish control over the pockets of Aleppo that Kurdish forces have held.
CEASEFIRE ‘FAILED,’ SECURITY OFFICIALS SAY
But in a statement, Kurdish councils that run Aleppo’s Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah districts said calls to leave were “a call to surrender” and that Kurdish forces would instead “defend their neighborhoods,” accusing government forces of intensive shelling.
Hours later, the Syrian army said that the deadline for Kurdish fighters to withdraw had expired, and that it would begin a military operation to clear the last Kurdish-held neighborhood of Sheikh Maksoud.
Two Syrian security officials told Reuters the ceasefire efforts had failed and that the army would seize the neighborhood by force.
The Syrian defense ministry had earlier carried out strikes on parts of Sheikh Maksoud that it said were being used by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to launch attacks on the “people of Aleppo.” It said on Friday that SDF strikes had killed three army soldiers.
Kurdish security forces in Aleppo said some of the strikes hit a hospital, calling it a war crime. The defense ministry disputed that, saying the structure was a large arms depot and that it had been destroyed in the resumption of strikes on Friday.
It posted an aerial video that it said showed the location after the strikes, and said secondary explosions were visible, proving it was a weapons cache.
Reuters could not immediately verify the claim.
The SDF is a powerful Kurdish-led security force that controls northeastern Syria. It says it withdrew its fighters from Aleppo last year, leaving Kurdish neighborhoods in the hands of the Kurdish Asayish police.
Under an agreement with Damascus last March the SDF was due to integrate with the defense ministry by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
FRANCE, US SEEK DE-ESCALATION
France’s foreign ministry said it was working with the United States to de-escalate.
A ministry statement said President Emmanuel Macron had urged Sharaa on Thursday “to exercise restraint and reiterated France’s commitment to a united Syria where all segments of Syrian society are represented and protected.”
A Western diplomat told Reuters that mediation efforts were focused on calming the situation and producing a deal that would see Kurdish forces leave Aleppo and provide security guarantees for Kurds who remained.
The diplomat said US envoy Tom Barrack was en route to Damascus. A spokesperson for Barrack declined to comment. Washington has been closely involved in efforts to promote integration between the SDF — which has long enjoyed US military support — and Damascus, with which the United States has developed close ties under President Donald Trump.
The ceasefire declared by the government overnight said Kurdish forces should withdraw by 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday, but no one withdrew overnight, Syrian security sources said.
Barrack had welcomed what he called a “temporary ceasefire” and said Washington was working intensively to extend it beyond the 9 a.m. deadline. “We are hopeful this weekend will bring a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue,” he wrote on X.
TURKISH WARNING
Turkiye views the SDF as a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and has warned of military action if it does not honor the integration agreement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking on Thursday, expressed hope that the situation in Aleppo would be normalized “through the withdrawal of SDF elements.”
Though Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander who belongs to the Sunni Muslim majority, has repeatedly vowed to protect minorities, bouts of violence in which government-aligned fighters have killed hundreds of Alawites and Druze have spread alarm in minority communities over the last year.
The Kurdish councils in Aleppo said Damascus could not be trusted “with our security and our neighborhoods,” and that attacks on the areas aimed to bring about displacement.
Sharaa, in a phone call with Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Friday, affirmed that the Kurds were “a fundamental part of the Syrian national fabric,” the Syrian presidency said.
Neither the government nor the Kurdish forces have announced a toll of casualties among their fighters from the recent clashes.
