Egypt votes; president likely winner

CAIRO >> Egyptians began voting Monday in an election that virtually guaranteed another term for President Abdel-Fattah elSissi, 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.

El-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 one-candidate 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, 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 Monday, and some were empty for most of the day.

El-Sissi, a general who led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, voted at a school in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis as soon as the polls opened at 9 a.m. He made no comment before heading for a meeting with his campaign team.

Moussa, who supported el-Sissi until he joined the race, made no effort to mount a challenge, and the president never mentioned him once in public.

Replying to a reporter’s question about his chances of winning, Moussa said: “It all depends on your prayers and your votes.”

“Today we want the people to come out and vote . ... It doesn’t matter who wins as long as Egypt remains safe,” he said after casting his ballot.

Some potential candidates might have attracted a sizable protest vote, but they were all either arrested or intimidated into withdrawing, making this the least competitive election since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.