Polling centers open in Egypt’s presidential elections

CAIRO (AP) — Polling centers in Egypt opened Monday, the second voting day in a presidential election that is certain to see President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi secure another term.

The vote, which began across the Middle Eastern nation on Sunday, has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, on Egypt’s eastern borders.

The vote is also taking place amid a staggering economic crisis in Egypt, a country of 105 million people in which nearly a third live in poverty, according to official figures.

The crisis stems from mismanagement of the economy but also from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, which rattled the global economy.

El-Sissi faces no serious challenger, although there are three other candidates: Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party; Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the Wafd Party; and Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party.

El-Sissi came to power in 2014, a year after he, as defense minister, led the military removal of an elected but divisive Islamist president amid widespread street protests against his year of rule.

More than 67 million people are eligible to vote in this week’s election.

The vote is set to end on Tuesday, with a runoff scheduled for Jan. 8-10 if no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, according to the National Election Authority, a judicial-chaired body that runs the electoral process.