Sabahi speaks on Sisi’s campaign funds, opposition to Mursi

Egypt’s presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi hit back on his archrival ex-army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, saying the latter should be questioned over his election campaign’s sources of funding.

Sabahi made the remarks during a live lengthy evening TV interview on the privately-owned Egyptian TV channel CBC; only days after the same station aired an interview with his rival Sisi.

During the interview, the presenters asked Sabahi about his campaign’s financial resources. Sabahi avoided giving a specific answer and said the same question should be directed to Sisi.

“Why did no one ask the counter presidential candidate [Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] for his account number or the sources funding his campaign?” Sabahi told the presenters.

Sabahi’s campaign is believed to lack financial resources, according to U.S.-based Middle East affairs site al-Monitor, compared to Sisi, which has an “overflow of donations and volunteers,” it said.

Egypt’s newly adopted electoral law raised the ceiling for campaign spending from LE10 million to LE20 million ($1.42 mn to $2.84 mn). It also bans candidates from obtaining funds from foreign organizations or individuals.

Sabahi stands up against Mursi

Meanwhile, Sabahi said in the interview he led opposition protests against Islamist President Mohammad Mursi, the Islamist president, at a time Sisi was part of his rule.

Sabahi, who came in third in Egypt's 2012 presidential elections that Mursi won, defended pro-democracy efforts.

“Without democracy, we are repeating the old, failed tales we have seen a hundred times before,” Sabahi said.