Campaigning begins in Egypt’s two-man presidential race

Former military chief Abdel Fatah El Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi seeking election in May26-27 vote.

Security forces stand guard near the wreckage of a car that exploded in central Cairo on Friday, killing the driver. It was the fourth blast to occur on the eve of the start of campaiging for Egypt’s Show more

CAIRO // Campaigning opened on Saturday for Egypt’s presidential election, likely to be won by the ex-army chief who removed an elected Islamist leader, a day after deadly bombings underscored tensions gripping the country.

The May 26-27 presidential poll, meant to restore electoral rule following the military’s removal of Mohammed Morsi last June, is widely expected to place former army chief Abdel Fattah El Sisi in power.

His only rival, leftist Hamdeen Sabbahi, has emerged as an opposition figure claiming to represent the ideals of the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak, as the interim government presses a widening crackdown on dissent.

Mr El Sisi, widely popular for removing the divisive Mr Morsi, is seen by supporters as a strong leader who can restore stability, but his opponents say that might come at the cost of freedoms sought in the pro-democracy uprising three years ago.

“The policies that were present under Mubarak are the same policies present now” under the military-installed regime, Mr Sabbahi told a campaign rally in the southern city of Assiut.

“Our goal is to gain the people’s trust to change the policies of corruption and tyranny and poverty,” he said in remarks broadcast live on television.

Mr Sabbahi, who came third in the 2012 election which Mr Morsi won, is seen as a long shot in the face of a grounds well of support for Mr El Sisi, with many Egyptians yearning for a return to stability after three years of demonstrations, civil unrest and economic stagnation.

If Mr El Sisi, 59, wins, he will restore a line of military men at the helm of the country that was interrupted by the civilian Mr Morsi’s year in power.

“Stability, security and hope for Egypt will be achieved through our will and capabilities,” Mr El Sisi said on Twitter on Saturday.

He later attended an interview with several local journalists, in which he wept at one point, the state-owned Ahram newspaper reported on its website.

“Sisi wept when he spoke about the messages he receives from the poor,” the newspaper reported.

“I get messages from people who can’t afford to eat. They say we don’t eat but we accept that for your sake,” it quoted Mr El Sisi as saying.

The retired field marshal, who is reviled by Mr Morsi’s supporters, vowed to stamp out a surge in militant attacks, including bombings on Friday that killed a policeman in Cairo and a soldier in the Sinai Peninsula.

The lawless north of the peninsula bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip has become a haven for Islamist militants, who launched a low-level insurgency following Mr Morsi’s overthrow.

The government has meanwhile waged a massive crackdown on mr Morsi’s supporters, with an estimated 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, killed in street clashes and thousands more jailed.

On Saturday, a Cairo court sentenced 102 Mr Morsi supporters to 10 years in prison for protest violence.

The crackdown has extended to secular activist groups that supported Mr Morsi’s removal but have since turned on the army-installed military as it clamps down on dissent.

Last week, a court banned the April 6 movement, which spearheaded the revolt against Mr Mubarak. Its leader Ahmed Maher is already in prison for participating in an unlicensed protest last year.

Another court that day sentenced to death 683 people, including the Brotherhood’s supreme guide Mohammed Badie, for deadly riots in August.

The ruling sparked an international outcry.

But many in the Egyptian media, which is almost universally hostile to the Islamists, welcomed the verdict.

The government and much of the media say the Brotherhood is a terrorist group responsible for many of the attacks since Mr Morsi’s overthrow, which have killed almost 500 security personnel.

The government has also gone after media outlets it views as sympathetic to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, and Saturday saw the latest hearing in the trial of three Al Jazeera journalists jailed since December.

One of the defendants, Australian correspondent Peter Greste, noted that the hearing was being held on World Press Freedom Day, denouncing the process as a “massive injustice.”

If he wins, Mr El Sisi is expected to slash a bloated subsidy system that has kept some food items and fuel at extremely low prices, potentially fuelling unrest.

Mr El Sisi has not yet unveiled his election programme, with campaign officials saying he wanted to wait until campaigning begins. The campaigning period ends on May 23.

* Agence France-Presse