With the Egyptian presidential elections less than three weeks away, it is expected that both presidential candidates should be discussing their platforms and starting a debate on the direction they intend to take this troubled country. The campaigns should be at full bore, with events, public appearances and TV interviews to rally voter support. So far, of the two candidates running, only Hamdeen Sabahi is doing that, while his opponent, and the likely next president, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has been running the most curious campaign in the history of all political campaigns by simply not campaigning at all.
After never appearing on Egyptian television in any format other than delivering a speech, Sisi finally made his first TV interview this week, and it was not an on-air interview, but rather pre-recorded and also allegedly edited by his campaign staff. His absence in the media has been the source of much speculation, with many voices claiming that his handlers are making him avoid the media, as to not let his views affect his widely alleged popularity. Those voices seemed vindicated once the interview was aired: Sisi appeared terse and controlling, unable to engage or nullify his interviewers’ meager attempts to scrutinize him or his views. It didn’t help that until this day the Sisi campaign hasn’t been able to provide his voters with an electoral platform, with one of its members stating to the media that they are doing this intentionally, to avoid “any bickering” over his vision for the country. This would be a fine example of the old Egyptian proverb “an excuse that’s worse than the sin,” but given what has been known through sources about his campaign, it is somehow fitting.
