Sisi re-elected as Egyptian president
Initial results show incumbent leader won 92 percent of about 25m votes
Initial results showed that Egypt’s incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi won 92 percent of the votes in the 2018 presidential election, with 23 million Egyptians voting for him, state-run Al-Ahram news website reported on Thursday.
According to Al-Ahram, around 25 million out of nearly 60 million eligible voters have cast their votes in the three-day election concluded on Wednesday.
The initial results also revealed that Sisi’s sole rival in the race, little-known politician Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a Sisi supporter, garnered only 3 percent of the votes.
The voter turnout according to the initial results amounts to about 42 percent.
The Egyptian leadership had sought a high turnout as a sign of popular support for Sisi’s re-election and the people’s confidence in his leadership for a better future.
On March 19, the most populous Arab state wrapped up the three-day voting process of Egyptian expatriates in 124 countries across the world.
Nearly 60 million Egyptians out of the country’s 104 million population are eligible to vote at about 13,700 polling stations nationwide.
Judge Yossif Jamal, head of Hadayek al-Maadi polling station in Cairo, said the turnout in his station was medium, adding that it increased notably on the third day.
“Around 25 percent of voters in this station cast their votes,” he said, adding that during the three days of elections the polling station witnessed a medium voter turnout, with mostly women and old people approaching the ballots.
He said the percentage registered at this station could not be an indication as many stations across the country witnessed a high turnout that exceeded 50 percent.
The election’s final result was expected to be announced on Monday, according to the National Election Authority.
Right after polling stations were closed, Sisi hailed the Egyptians for participating in the elections.
“The voice of the Egyptian masses will undoubtedly bear witness to the fact that our nation’s will imposes itself with a force that knows no weakness,” Sisi said on Twitter.
“The scenes of the Egyptians before the polling stations will remain sources of honor and pride for me, and a shining proof of the greatness of our nation.”
The polls are held amid intense security presence and tight security measures taken by the army and the police around polling centers throughout Egypt.
Voters cast their ballots at 13,706 polling stations nationwide, with about 18,000 judges overseeing the voting process that is also monitored by at least 53 local organizations and nine international ones, besides more than 680 foreign reporters.
Hours before the election kicked off, the police announced the killing of six terrorists during a raid in Beheira province north of the capital Cairo.
The Interior Ministry said the extremist cell was involved in Saturday’s car bomb attack in the nearby coastal province of Alexandria that killed two policemen.
Terror activities in Egypt have killed hundreds of security men and civilians since the military toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his oneyear rule and his currently outlawed Brotherhood group.
The country’s elections authority announced on Wednesday that the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and North Sinai, which suffer the most from terrorist attacks, witnessed the highest voter turnout throughout the three days of elections.