Sisi Wins Elections for Second Term With 97% of Votes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second four-year term. (AFP/ File Photo)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second four-year term with 97.08 percent of votes, almost the exact percentage which brought the former-military commander to his first term four years ago, Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA) announced on Monday afternoon.

At a press conference, NEA announced that 24,254,152 citizens voted in the elections at home and abroad out of more than 59 million eligible voters, representing a turnout of 41.05 percent. Sisi won 21,835,378 votes, while Ghad Party chief Moussa Mostafa Moussa, Sisi’s sole contender in the election, won 656,534 votes, 2.92 percent of valid total votes.

The NEA said the number of invalid ballots was 1,762,231 votes, amounting to 7.27 percent of the total votes.

The 2018 presidential election is the first election in Egyptian history to be monitored by the National Election Authority.

Lasheen Ibrahim, the chairman of the country’s election authority said that 18,808 judges and more than 124,000 administrative staff supervised the electoral process.

He added that Egyptian expats voted abroad from 16-18 March in 157,060 polling stations at Egyptian embassies and consulates around the world.

Sisi was widely expected to win a second term in office after potential opponents pulled out of the election-run in the build up.

This article has been adapted from its original source.