Sweeping majority of votes, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reelected as Egypt President for second term

Cairo, March 30: Sweeping majority and garnering nearly 92% of votes, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been elected as the president for the second term. The preliminary results showed on Thursday, but turnout of just 40 percent dented his push for popular legitimacy.

 

Twenty-five million of the 60 million registered voters, or some 41.5 per cent, turned out during the three days of polling that ended on Wednesday. Twenty-three million voted for Sisi.

Sisi's sole challenger was the little-known Moussa Mostafa Moussa, himself a supporter of the president, who registered immediately before the close date for applications, saving the election from being a one-horse race.

Moussa conceded his loss on Wednesday night, telling a television station he had hoped for 10 per cent of the vote. "But I know the immense popularity of President Sisi," he said. Other, more heavy-weight would-be challengers were all sidelined, detained or pulled out.

About 60 million people were eligible to vote in the election which was held in 13,687 polling stations across the country and under the supervision of 18,678 judges from various judicial bodies and authorities.

Police and army personnel maintained a tight vigil near the polling stations to ensure that no untoward incident happens. Sisi overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule. He was elected for a four-year presidential term in 2014.