海角大神

Supporters go all-in for Sabbahi, Egypt's long-shot presidential hopeful

Hamdeen Sabbahi is running against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, hailed as Egypt's savior since leading a military takeover last summer. Sabbahi's supporters say his ideals won them over.

Inside Hamdeen Sabbahi鈥檚 campaign headquarters, no one stands still.聽If the young volunteers are not welcoming journalists or laying out chairs for a campaign event, they are chattering away on smartphones. One woman paces in front of a wall plastered with photographs of聽the聽candidate, reeling off a list of his campaign聽stops聽to someone in a back office.聽Their campaign bus has just returned from a whistlestop tour of Upper Egypt.

It鈥檚 a remarkable聽effort for a candidate聽who is polling at only 2 percent.

Mr. Sabbahi, a self-styled socialist with bouffant white hair, is the only challenger to former military chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt's upcoming presidential election. Mr. Sisi has been hailed聽by many Egyptians聽as a national savior聽after聽leading a popular military coup聽last July that ousted an elected Islamist president.聽Sabbahi doesn't seem to stand a chance.

But inside his headquarters, no one admits to this 鈥撀燼lthough, if pressed, several campaign workers talk of a future聽role in opposition politics.

The聽fresh-faced volunteers聽say they are聽here because of聽Sabbahi's聽lofty ideals of social and economic justice, reminiscent of the 2011 uprising that many of them joined.聽By now,聽the聽idealism聽of that time is a distant memory. The military coup聽against president Mohamed Morsi聽has been followed by an aggressive crackdown on dissent which has landed more than 16,000 people in jail.聽

Their optimism stands in contrast to the more dour tone of Sisi's high-profile election campaign. He has called for hard work from Egyptians, and hinted at painful austerity measures to come. Sabbahi's program promises economic improvement,聽without specifying how he's going to achieve it,聽and an opening up of the political space. Many doubt it can be funded, given the perilous state of Egypt鈥檚 economy.

鈥淎fter the revolution, I needed a candidate who shared my ideals 鈥� Sabbahi was the only one," says Mostafa el Hagary, a strategist, as he traces his finger across a monogrammed tablecloth bearing the candidate鈥檚 campaign slogan: 鈥淥ne of us.鈥澛�

Least-bad option

Sabbahi was the wildcard candidate聽in聽Egypt鈥檚 2012 presidential elections. Lacking聽strong ties to聽either聽the old regime聽or聽the Brotherhood, he came in third with 21 percent of the first-round votes, before a final run-off between the two frontunners. His supporters fell into two broad camps 鈥� one revolutionary, the other disillusioned. The latter saw Sabbahi, a longtime political activist, as the least-bad聽alternative to聽Islamists聽like the Muslim Brotherhood聽and Mubarak-era figures.

Two years later, Sabbahi may be better established, but he still draws on a fractured support base with聽conflicting agendas and aspirations. Many say they will be voting for him because he is the only man willing to challenge Sisi.聽That kind of constituency is difficult to energize.

鈥淚'm voting for Sabbahi out of necessity, not out of love,鈥� says Mohamed Saleh, a Cairo-based graphic designer. 鈥淯sually, I would choose a liberal, right-wing candidate who understands economics and favors capitalist policies. But nobody has offered this, so Sabbahi is the next best thing.鈥�

When it comes to economic programs, Mr. Saleh does not believe he has the luxury of choice. Like many voters, his preference for socialist Sabbahi is based聽on the fact that he's a civilian, as was Morsi, the only non-military leader of modern Egypt.聽The Army has framed its decision to push him from power as a necessary choice to put the country back on a "revolutionary path" after a year of Islamist rule.

鈥淩ight now, we're only faced with two options: vote for Sisi and Army control, or to go in the opposite direction, whatever that entails,鈥澛燬aleh聽sighs.

Others say they will vote Sabbahi merely to send a message to Sisi that he does not have carte blanche.

鈥淚鈥檓 voting for Hamdeen [Sabbahi] because I don't want Sisi to win with a landslide,鈥� says one investment banker, who asked not to be named. 鈥淭hat might imply to him that he can get back to old ways when it comes to rights and freedom.鈥�

Sabbahi鈥檚 campaign has itself been affected by the crackdown. Already, there have been reports of volunteers being arrested or assaulted on the campaign trail.聽But campaigners聽are reluctant to聽discuss聽these experiences, apparently聽for fear of provoking聽the Sisi campaign,聽which is聽backed by the all-powerful police and military.

Playing the long game

A recent poll put Sabbahi鈥檚 support at only 2 percent, compared with 72 percent for Sisi. The frontrunner's credentials as the man who rescued Egypt from Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood have been bolstered by an inescapable PR campaign.

Ahead of the聽May 26-27聽vote, Sisi's face fills聽newspaper and magazine聽pages and聽TV broadcasts聽and is emblazoned on posters and drapes hung over shops and streets across the country.

But back inside Sabbahi鈥檚 west Cairo campaign headquarters, the team are doing their best to put a聽positive聽spin on the difficulties ahead. They have promised to boost Egypt鈥檚 flailing economy, deal with its burgeoning energy crisis head on, free political prisoners, and repeal a law that effectively criminalizes spontaneous protest.聽

But that all depends on whether they can put up a decent fight at the polls 鈥� and be heard in the aftermath. Campaigners say they are in this for the long run.

鈥淲e know that in most wars, the stronger side have often put out messages to say it's going to be a landslide win,鈥� says one man. 鈥淲e know they鈥檙e aiming to kill our morale, but we don鈥檛 let that happen.鈥�