Egypt: Voters care about two issues: security and jobs

According to the results of a study published by the Egyptian Public Opinion Polling Center (Baseera) on May 17, security and employment are two of the issues that voters in this country are most concerned about.

Among the issues that Egyptians have the highest expectations for their future president, security is at the top of the list (60%), followed by jobs (40%) and improving the country's situation (29%). Other issues that are also of concern to the people include improving living standards (25%), justice (16%) and price controls (9%). Meanwhile, education and scientific research are the issues that receive the least attention, with 3% and 1% respectively.

Egyptian voters cast their ballots in a referendum on a new Constitution in Cairo. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to the results of the above survey, 88% of the respondents confirmed that they will participate in the presidential election. Of those, 75% said they will vote for former Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, 2% supported the only opponent, left-wing politician Hamdeen Sabahi. The gap between the two candidates is almost unchanged compared to the poll conducted by Baseera on May 10-11.

Also on May 17, the Egyptian Presidential Election Commission announced that the voting period abroad would be extended to 9 p.m. on May 19, instead of May 18 as previously scheduled. In a statement, PEC spokesman Abdel-Aziz Salman said the decision was made due to the large number of voters, reaching more than 210,000 people by late afternoon on May 17, double the voting rate in the referendum on the new Constitution held in mid-January.

According to official statistics, about 6-8 million Egyptians are living in 161 countries and territories around the world, of which Saudi Arabia is the largest, accounting for nearly 45% of the total number of Egyptians. More than 600,000 of them are eligible to vote. Previously, on May 14, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that all voters listed in the Supreme Election Commission's database, including those traveling or receiving medical treatment abroad, are allowed to vote if they have sufficient identification documents. This is the first time this regulation has been relaxed to increase voter turnout.

According to the schedule, the presidential election in Egypt will officially take place on May 26-27. The official vote counting results will be announced on June 5. If no candidate wins a majority of votes in the first round, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will enter the knockout round held on June 16-17 and the results of this vote will be announced on June 26. According to observers, it is likely that former army commander el-Sisi will win with a large margin over his only opponent, left-wing politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who finished third in the presidential election in mid-2012./.

According to VNA