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December 19, 2023

Egypt's el-Sisi Claims Victory in Presidential Election After Barring and Intimidating Opponents
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Egypt's authoritarian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has declared
victory after a noncompetitive election. Human Rights Watch reports this
month's poll followed a campaign of arrests, intimidation and onerous
requirements for candidates that effectively prevented any meaningful
competition. In 2019, Egypt's Constitution was amended to allow Sisi to
run for a third term, while lengthening presidential terms to six years;
he's now set to remain in office until 2030. Sisi came to power in 2013
when he led the coup that removed Egypt's first democratically elected
president, Mohamed Morsi, opening a crackdown on dissent that's been
described as the end of the Arab Spring.

In September, the Biden administration approved $1.3 billion in military
aid to Egypt, withholding just a small fraction of the aid - $85 million
- even though the aid was contingent on Sisi's government releasing some
of Egypt's tens of thousands of political prisoners, which it failed to
do.


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