Only 39 percent of Egypt ready to vote for Sisi

Published March 31st, 2014 - 06:15 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

Fifty nine percent of Egyptians are undecided about who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, according to an opinion poll.

The poll, conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research (Baseera), showed 84 percent of Egyptians intend to vote in the election, while 16 percent do not.

Thirty nine percent said they would vote for former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, down from 51 percent in an earlier poll in mid-March.

The percentage of undecided voters is up from 45 percent in the previous poll.

Forty two percent of those who said they would vote for Al Sisi live in cities, while 36 percent live in the countryside.

Men (41 percent) are more likely to say they will vote for Al Sisi than women (36 percent).

People over 50 years old are more likely to say they will vote for Al Sisi (43 percent), than those aged 18-29 (37 percent).

Less than one percent said they would vote for either Nasserite Hamdeen Sabahi or moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, who both ran in the 2012 presidential election.

Sabahi has announced his intention to run, but Abul-Fotouh has said he will not after members of his Strong Egypt party were arrested while campaigning for a "no" vote in the constitution referendum.

The poll was conducted across all Egyptian governorates between 24 and 26 March. Baseera spoke via landline and mobile phone to 2,034 people aged over 18.

The survey was conducted shortly before Al Sisi announced his intention to stand for president.

Sabbahi and Al Sisi are the only candidates to announce their intention to stand. The candidate registration process is expected to start in early April.

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