ASSESSMENTS

A President of the Egyptian Military's Choosing

Jan 24, 2018 | 16:07 GMT

A billboard in Cairo touts the re-election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. As elections approach in March, his opponents from across the political spectrum have found themselves under pressure from the country's military council.

Egyptians drive past a billboard bearing the image of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, as part of the campaign for his re-election in the upcoming polls scheduled for March 2018, on January 22, 2018, in Cairo.

(MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Military leaders, who remain firmly in control of Egypt's political system, are backing incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in an effort to provide continuity on economic and security reform.
Al-Sisi's popularity and the military council's ability to sideline serious competitors have made the outcome of March's presidential election basically a foregone conclusion.
Its practice of exerting heavy influence over which candidates can run in the elections could erode the military's ability to stifle popular dissent in the long term as it makes its controlling role more obvious.

In Egypt, where the military reigns supreme, a popular election looms in late March. Although the Supreme Council of Armed Forces remains the ultimate arbiter of power and authority over the government in Cairo, seven years ago, a surge of popular will shook its grip and shifted the Egyptian government. Since the Arab Spring protests in 2011 and the subsequent ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak, the military government has had to take popular pressure into account in ways it had not before, even as it tightens its hold on the overall governmental system. Regardless of class or region, Egyptians in 2018 share similar concerns over the country's stagnant economy and growing security threats, and candidates running for president will argue over how to best address them. The military wants to ensure that whoever wins Egypt's 2018 presidential election can manage the popular dissent that has continued to simmer since the...

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