Egypt becomes latest African nation to allow its diasporans to vote in presidential elections

EGYPT has become the latest African country to allow its diasporans to participate in general elections as it has already allowed its citizens abroad to start voting in the forthcoming presidential elections.

Between march 26 and 28, Egyptians will go to the polls to elect a new president but yesterday, diasporans were allowed to start casting their votes, some 10 days before the main exercise.  President AbdelFattah al-Sisi is the frontrunner in the elections in which turnout could provide an indication of his popularity.

A former army chief, President al-Sisi's only challenger, Mousa Mostafa Mousa, leads a party that had initially backed his bid for re-election. Other opponents halted their campaigns citing intimidation by the authorities and one challenger was jailed.

Over recent days, President Al- Sisi has echoed calls he made in 2014, just before he was first voted into office, urging Egyptians to turn up to polling stations worldwide. A year after toppling Egypt’s first democratically elected leader Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, President al-Sisi won nearly 97% of the vote in 2014.

Fewer than half of eligible Egyptians voted in that election even though it was extended to three days. Over the last 24 hours, Egyptian state television has shown hundreds of voters crowding outside the Egyptian embassies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to vote.

Some Egyptians abroad said they would have nothing to do with the vote, claiming the result was pre-determined. One US-based Egyptian said: “Bottom line is that the election process is a sham.

"The fig leaf of democracy is so see-through that even Moussa Mostafa, the only contender, who ran to meet the cut-off, is hardly taking the race seriously. With such a predetermined outcome, what’s the point?”