President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s approval rating has fallen by 14 percent according to a poll conducted by Baseera, the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research. The majority of respondents cited rising prices as their main cause of dissatisfaction with the president.
Published on Saturday, the poll reports that 68 percent of respondents claim to support Sisi, as opposed to 82 percent two months ago. The number of those who said they do not support Sisi reached 24 percent, and 8 percent stated that they were undecided based on the president’s 28 months in office.
Baseera found that ongoing price hikes were the primary cause of the decrease in approval. Seventy-four percent of respondents who were unhappy with Sisi said it was because of rising prices, while two months ago only 54 percent cited this as a reason for their dissatisfaction. A further 13 percent said their disappointment stemmed from a lack of employment opportunities, and 12 percent said it was because there was no evidence that the country’s situation was improving. Four percent said they were unhappy with the lack of social justice in Egypt.
The poll also highlighted the relationship between respondents’ age and support for Sisi. The president’s approval rating reached 50 percent among respondents under 30 years old, compared to an 82 percent approval rating among those aged 50 and above.
Reasons why respondents support the president have not changed significantly compared to previous poll results. Among those who approved of the president’s performance, the new Suez canal project was still cited as the main reason for their support.
Nineteen percent said they supported Sisi because of the Suez canal project, while 18 percent pointed to improvements in security, 11 percent cited national reform, 9 percent referenced improvements in road and bridge networks, and 7 percent mentioned housing projects. Twenty-two percent of respondents did not give a specific reason as to why they supported the president.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents stated that they would vote for Sisi if presidential elections were held tomorrow, while 20 percent said they would not vote for him and 21 percent said it would depend on the other candidates. In a poll conducted at the end of Sisi’s second year in office, 81 percent of respondents said they would vote for him if presidential elections were held tomorrow.
The poll noted that 77 percent of those who said they would elect Sisi if elections were tomorrow were 50 years old or above, but only 41 percent of respondents under 30 agreed with this sentiment.
“The poll was conducted using both mobile phones and landlines on a sample of 1520 citizens aged 18 years old and above, and covering all governorates,” wrote Baseera. “All phone interviews were conducted from 17 to 18 October, 2016. The response rate was around 48%, and the margin of error in the results is less than 3%. The poll was self-funded by Baseera as a part of its social responsibility activities.”