Egyptians begin voting in national election

Egyptians began voting yesterday in an election that virtually guaranteed another term for president Abdel-fattah el-sissi, who faced only a token opponent in balloting that resembled the referendums held by autocrats for decades before the Arab Spring briefly raised hopes of democratic change.

Mr Sissi’s only challenger was Moussa Mustafa Moussa, a little-known politician who joined the race at the last minute to spare the government the embarrassment of a onecandidate election after several hopefuls were forced out or arrested.

Authorities hope enough of egypt’ s nearly 60 million eligible voters will participate in the three-day election to give it legitimacy. Local media organisations, which are dominated by pro-government commentators, have portrayed voting as a national obligation and the only way to prevent foreigners from sowing instability.

There were only modest lines at most polling places yesterday, and some were empty for most of the day.