Concern about the war in Gaza strengthens Al Sisi in the Egyptian elections

Concerned about the expansion of the war in Loop, that borders Egyptthousands of supporters of President Abdel Fattah al Sisi went to the electoral centers in the province of Giza today to give their support to the former marshal, the undisputed favorite in these presidential elections.

For the second consecutive day in these elections, which will be extended for another day, loudspeakers at the electoral centers played music and the Egyptian national anthem to attract voters, while hundreds of people disembarked at the centers from buses chartered by party groups to the Egyptian government.

The economic crisis that the country is going through, marked by inflation that is around 38%and the lack of a real opposition in these elections have created an aura of general political disaffection in the country of the pharaohs, but the war in Gaza and the threat of potential displacement of the Palestinians changed everything.

“Egypt needs a person to defend it,” Mahmud Hasan, 50, tells EFE from the Al Faruk polling station in Giza.

Concern over war in Gaza

“Of course, what encouraged me to vote are the recent events in the Gaza Strip”, said Hasan, who expressed concern that the Israeli Army’s military operations in the south of the Palestinian enclave would lead to a clash with Egypt.

Likewise, he stated that many Egyptians are going to the polls in these elections to support Al Sisi and convey a “message of strength” so that Israel “calculate your steps well” in case of expansion of the conflict.

“I do not want an electoral program that talks about constructions, reforms and developments, since the situation is critical and the situation in Gaza is heating up.”“Hasan stated, adding that “There is no one more suitable for this position than Abdel Fattah al Sisi.”

Along the same lines, housewife Nahed Mejael, 52, told EFE that “The current threats generated by the war in Gaza encouraged a part of the people to voter” because the current president “He does not want to enter a war or sacrifice our children on the front.”

“Our hearts go out to the inhabitants of Gaza, but this does not mean that I want to get into a war without calculations or at random,” Mejael said from the school polling station, where she went accompanied by her daughter.

“Al Sisi is going to win”

For the first time since Al Sisi came to power in a coup d’état in 2013, more than one candidate competes with the current president in an election, since in the last elections the opposition denounced impediments to being able to present themselves and even the imprisonment of their members. leaders.

The other candidates are Farid Zahran, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (PES); Abdel Sanad Yamama, head of the Wafd Party, and Hazem Omar, of the Republican People’s Party (RPP), three great unknowns overshadowed by the former marshal.

“Al Sisi is going to win, since I have not seen the achievements of the other three candidates” justified Mejael, who opined that, if another candidate assumed the Presidency, Egypt “I would start from scratch.”

“We have someone who already understood the situation in the country and governed it, even though the current situation is not good, but in the end we will not start from scratch,” he assured, in reference to the serious economic crisis that is impoverishing Egyptians by leaps and bounds.

Much of the crisis is due to Egypt’s continued borrowing for the construction of megaprojects, such as the New Administrative Capital, which are estimated to cost tens of billions of dollars. The external debt of the African country exceeds US$ 160,000 million.

“Yes, these days we complain about the excessive construction of bridges, but this will be very useful so that when my daughter grows up she finds that her country is developed and beautiful”, he assured.