100days before the start of the presidential election officially
Analysis of Legislative, Political, Economic and Security contexts
Nearly 100 days remains for the most important political Egyptian event in the presidential elections, which will officially begin on February 8, 2018, according to the constitutional framework. Although the features and nature of electoral competition haven’t crystallized yet, as potential candidates – including the current president, Abdel Fatah El Sisi and his firm intention to run in the midst of electoral competition, there are institutional developments and popular movements reveal the side of the expected nature of this competition.
In this context, the Presidential Elections Observatory at Maat “Egypt 2018 “publishes its second report on the follow-up of the procedures and the environment surrounding the electoral process, which deals with the institutional legal arrangements and the political and popular positions 100 days before the official launching of the electoral process. The report reviews the current constitutional and legal situation, which did not occur any amendment other than the adoption of the law of the National Electoral Commission and the issuance of the decision of the President of the Country to form members of judicial entities in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law, and the report addresses in this regard the emergency law, which was extended In the context of the legal measures taken by the Egyptian authorities to combat terrorism, which is active in the Egyptian arena after the revolution of 30 June 2013, and committed during the past four years a wide range of crimes that affected the economic, political and social climate in Egypt, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Egyptians from the police, the army and civilian citizens.
The report raises the issue of the absence of the official announcement of potential candidates whom are famous on Egyptian street, despite the existence of popular campaigns with a partisan and political momentum to demand the current president to run for elections, and other campaigns adopt an anti-view, and hints of close to former presidential candidates or senior officials in the regimes that followed the country after January 25, 2011 indicates their intention to run but without any explicit declaration from any of them, in exchange for the initiative of some notorious names to announce their candidacy for the presidential post.
The initial follow – up to the status quo before the 100 days of the presidential elections indicate that the current constitutional and legal environment provides a competitive framework and put obstacles to the establishment of free and fair elections under the supervision and management of an independent entity and members of the entire judicial entities, and even with the application of the emergency law, it is not documented – even Now, there are cases where it is used to disrupt the actions of a potential candidate or campaign for a specific candidate. However, the atmosphere of electoral competition from its political perspective appears to be not yet prominent and is not consistent with the formal launch of the process. Previous electoral experiences in Egypt or even internationally recognized Well that one hundred days before the election will be potential candidates have sewn their positions, political and popular forces declared their positions , but this has not happened in Egypt so far.
The structure of the National Elections Commission has not yet been completed. However, it has not completed its institutional construction until the issuance of this report. Its executive body has not been formed, it has not established a permanent headquarters yet, and has not announced the administrative, and financial regulations governing its work which poses a major challenge as the electoral process approaches.
The Observatory followed during the past period several initiatives and popular campaigns under the title of supporting President Sisi in exchange for the announcement of one opposition campaign led by the political activist Engineer Mamdouh Hamza, and despite the divergence of opinions and political and legal evaluation of these campaigns, but we noticed that some executives support some campaigns President Sisi , While noting that some officials also refused to respond to representatives and coordinators of these campaigns.
At party level, the parties are divided between the support applied to the current president and the opposition of existing policies without providing an alternative candidate adopt compatible policies with the ideology and vision of these parties, Unlike the Reform and Development Party , which supports a likely candidate Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, the rest of the opposition parties did not benefit from the appropriate legal environment to work and increase its numbers to reach 104 parties in the rounding around one or more competing candidates.
The current economic situation is expected to play a role in the electoral process through its impact on candidates’ programs or on the chances of the likely candidate, the current president, Abdelfattah Sisi, who tackled a financial reform program that was supported and appreciated by the international financial institutions, led to high inflation, low purchasing power, pressure on government spending on public services and reduced state subsidies for some basic goods and services for decades.
The security situation is also likely to play a role in the coming elections, especially in light of the increasing terrorist threat and the security confrontation of the terrorist organizations that are active in the North Sinai border area and have recently been active in Western desert, driven by the tension in Libya.
