Egyptian opposition fights back

President Sisi became increasingly dictatorial

The chances are that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will win a second, four-year term in the March 26-28 vote.  A seemingly pre-arranged candidate's last-minute entry spared the government the embarrassment of a one-candidate election but the people are not fooled.  It drew a torrent of criticism and mockery on social media.


In order, therefore, to confront a looming dictatorship, a coalition of eight Egyptian opposition parties and some 150 pro-democracy public figures on Tuesday called for a boycott of the March presidential election.  They referred to the election as an "absurdity" and comparing the government's handling of the vote to that of "old and crude dictatorships."


To give the election a semblance of credibility, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, an obscure politician and a staunch supporter of el-Sissi, submitted his documents Monday, just before the election commission's deadline.  Moussa is the leader of the Ghad, or Tomorrow, party, which does not have a single seat in parliament.