Egyptians began voting on Sunday in a presidential election set to hand Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a third term in power, as the country grapples with an economic crisis and a war on its border with Gaza.
If Sisi wins a new six-year term, his immediate priorities would be taming near-record inflation, managing a chronic foreign currency shortage and preventing spillover from the conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Voting, which runs from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. (0700-1900 GMT), is spread over three days, with results due to be announced on Dec. 18.
Patriotic songs played on a loop as polling stations opened on Sunday morning in Cairo, where pictures of Sisi proliferated in the weeks leading up to the election. Riot police were deployed at entrances to Tahrir Square in the capital’s centre.
Critics see the election as a sham after a decade-long crackdown on dissent. The government’s media body has called it a step towards political pluralism.
