Egypt Roundup: Elections, humanitarian assistance, religious laws
Almost half of Egypt’s population vote
Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA) has announced that available data pegs the total number of citizens who have cast their votes so far in the country’s three-day election at 45%. The number represents about 30 million of the total population of 67 million Egyptians who are eligible to vote in the elections. The number was recorded on the second day of voting, according to local news outlet Ahram. Farid Zahran, the leader of the leftist opposition Social Democratic Party, Abdel-Sanad Yamama, who represents the Wafd Party, and Hazem Omar, the candidate from the People's Republican Party are contesting the incumbent Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
Egypt’s prime minister encourages citizens to vote
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli chaired the central operations room as part of efforts to monitor polls on the second day of the country’s voting, the Egyptian Gazette reported. The PM cast his vote at a polling station in the capital on December 10 and called on citizens to exercise their constitutional rights and take part in the election process. Egypt’s elections began on December 10 and will end on December 12.
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Humanitarian Assistance
Egypt has delivered 100 more humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza. The Egyptian Red Cresent (ERC), a humanitarian society that provides emergency medical services and humanitarian aid delivered trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies to Palestine for distribution to residents of Gaza who are under siege. Led by the ERC and the Egyptian Food Bank, dozens of civil society organizations in Egypt have been contributing to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza since the start of the war, according to local news outlet Ahram.
Inflation decline
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced that the country’s annual core inflation rate has recorded a decline. According to Dailynews Egypt, the inflation rate which excludes volatile items such as food and energy recorded 1% in November 2023, a decline from 2.7% in the same month of the previous year and 1.8% in October. The current core inflation is 35.9% compared to 38.1% recorded in October. The reduction is attributed to price reductions in several categories including meat and poultry.
Religious laws
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt has welcomed a Danish law passed by the Danish parliament to make a crime, the inappropriate treatment of religious writings. According to Ahram news, Egypt hopes the law will help deal with the menace of profaning religious sanctities that promote intolerance, extremism, and hate speech.
