While Al-Sisi is re-confirmed as president, repression is on the rise

Last election day in Egypt - While Al-Sisi is re-confirmed as president, repression is on the rise

The gaze into the distance, the satisfied smile - in his large portraits above the highways of Cairo, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives the impression of a confident father of the country. A head of state who steers Egypt through uncertain times, who ensures stability on this side of the border even during a very serious war in the neighboring Gaza Strip. The war is playing into Al-Sisi's hands in the three-day presidential election, which began in Egypt on Sunday and which the incumbent is very likely to win.

The 69-year-old ex-general will kick off the campaign on Sunday morning in Heliopolis in eastern Cairo. Al-Sisi appears in a dark suit with aviator glasses, makes little jokes with the lady at the polling station and then puts his cross on the ballot paper in the booth. He doesn't leave out the voting ink on his little finger either, then his black car rolls off again. The TV station Al-Kahira News shows the moments shortly afterwards to patriotic music.

Perhaps learning a lesson from the 2018 election, which critics described as a "farce", the aim this time is to create more of a semblance of a democratic election. Three opposing candidates - instead of just one previously - have been admitted to the election, and the State Information Service speaks of a "serious path to genuine political pluralism" and a "democratic transformation". There is an "atmosphere of openness and full competition" in the election. 67 out of 109 million inhabitants are called upon to cast their vote.

A climate of fear is the norm in Egypt

Al-Sisi has now been in power for a decade, having taken over in 2013 following a military coup. The climate of fear, in which any serious opposition is stifled according to critics, has since become the norm. The human rights organization Amnesty International reports that repression, for example through arrests, increased even more before the election. Protests are effectively banned in the country.

This was also evident in the only serious rival candidate, Ahmed al-Tantaui. He withdrew from the race after he was unable to collect the necessary signatures and reported arrests and violence against his supporters. The authorities deny the allegations. Al-Tantaui and 21 of his staff have since been arrested and are awaiting trial. Al-Tantaui is accused of distributing supporters' papers without the approval of the electoral authorities.

The Gaza factor

However, the election is overshadowed by the Gaza war anyway. Egypt's government is very worried that the war will spill over the border and drive masses of Palestinian refugees into North Sinai, seeking protection from Israel's bombardments. Al-Sisi is being praised these days as the man who is preventing Israel's alleged plans to resettle large numbers of Palestinians in Egypt. As the one who sends humanitarian aid to Gaza and as the head of a government that, together with Qatar, made it possible for hostages to be released from the hands of the Islamist Hamas.

In 2008, Palestinian militants blew up part of the border wall, prompting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to stream across the border into Egypt. They bought what was no longer available due to the tightened blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2007, but only made it as far as the coastal town of Al-Arish. Security forces used water cannons to try to push the people back and close the holes in the border wall. The government in Cairo wants to avoid a repeat of such images at all costs.

Is Al-Sisi accepting the many deaths?

In the meantime, the military has established a buffer zone around Rafah and the border, and the scenario of a violent storming seems much less likely today than in 2008. Palestinians also fear that if they flee to Egypt, for example, they will not be able to return to their families in Gaza. Accordingly, there are also critical voices accusing Al-Sisi of doing too little to protect the Palestinians and accepting the many deaths in Gaza.

"I love our president. Every time I see him on TV, I pray for him," says 67-year-old Faisa Abdel Misih, who has come to a polling station in Cairo with her husband, who walks with a walking stick. "If Al-Sisi wanted, my husband and I would donate our pension to give it to the Palestinians. We will always support him because he is a good man. I wish I could meet him before I die."

Popular despite inflation and high unemployment

Similar sentences are often heard on election day - despite high unemployment and rapidly rising prices. The inflation rate is 38 percent. Despite accusations that public money is being wasted, for example on the construction of a new capital east of Cairo. Rumors are circulating that the currency will be devalued again after the election, which would plunge even more of the low-income earners into poverty. While it seems clear who will win the election, it is unclear where Egypt is heading after the election and after the war.

A continuation of the current government could lead to "insecurity", says Farid Sahran, probably the best-known of the opposing candidates, after casting his vote in the Mukattam district. The elections are a "step towards a democratic transition, which we hope for and fight for." A photo of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hangs above the journalists to whom Sahran is speaking - contrary to the regulations for polling stations.