The Egyptian civilian democratic movement has since the start been seeking a peaceful handover of power, and Egypt is in dire need of change, the Secretary-General of the Arab National Congress, Hamdeen Sabahi, said during a press conference held by the civil society.

"The chance to get out of the crises faced by the Egyptian people is the election that expresses the will of the Egyptian people," Sabahi said.

The ANC chief addressed the violations being committed against opposition candidates affiliated with civil society.

"The opposition is not an enemy to the authority, but they have an independent stance that expresses the opinion of a group of people that disagree with the incumbent administration," the highly popular Egyptian politician said. "If prohibited from peaceful change, the Egyptians will escalate."

"The current state policies call for an explosion, and their results will be very negative and the Egyptian state will not bear them," he Sabahi said, calling for an end to "all violations to which citizens are exposed in front of real estate registration offices."

"What Egypt is witnessing now is not promising at all, and we have a dream to witness real and fair elections that result in a peaceful change of power," adding that "the civil movement is wondering whether it will boycott the elections if the situation remains as it is now."

Hamdeen Sabahi concluded by describing "what is happening now" as "an attempt to prevent us from participating in the election."

Ongoing candidacies

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Thus far, incumbent Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and former MP Ahmed Tantawi, who is backed by the opposition, are running for the Egyptian presidency.

El-Sisi announced his candidacy for a third term in the presidential elections scheduled for December 10. The election could be a turning point at a time when the country is witnessing a stifling economic crisis and a significant decline in the value of the Egyptian pound and the purchasing power of citizens. 

The election was originally anticipated to take place in the spring of 2024, but it has been moved up, with some experts suggesting this shift is intended to precede a potential transition to a more flexible exchange rate, a move that could further exacerbate social tensions in Egypt, and its population of 105 million.

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The final candidate list will be confirmed by November 9. Campaigning will continue until November 29, with the election winner to be announced on December 18, as announced by Judge Walid Hassan Hamza, Chairman of the National Election Authority.

Perilous situation

In a sequence of devaluations that began in March 2022, the country's currency has depreciated by 50%, leading to a surge in consumer prices in this import-dependent economy.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund granted Egypt a $3 billion loan on the condition that the country adopts a flexible exchange rate regime as a permanent shift.

Despite this, the government has maintained a fixed exchange rate of roughly 31 Egyptian pounds to the US dollar since January. However, prices have continued to soar due to a thriving parallel currency market driven by a severe shortage of foreign exchange.

In August, annual inflation hit a record high for the third consecutive month, reaching 39.7 percent.

To mitigate the economic challenges, President El-Sisi's administration has introduced a series of social protection measures and minimum wage increases.