Egypt’s Sisi re-elected with 97 percent of votes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the exact proportion that brought the former military commander his first term four years ago, Egypt's election commission announced on Monday.

However, turnout in last week's election was lower than in 2014, at 41 percent. The flagship state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram also raised its estimate of turnout in the March 26-28 election to 42.08 percent, saying 25 million of Egypt's 60 million registered voters had cast ballots.

At a press conference in Cairo on Monday, the NEA said 24,254,152 citizens voted in the elections at home and abroad out of more than 59 million eligible voters, representing a turnout of 41.5 percent, according to Al Ahram.

The Egypt's National Elections Authority (NEA) said that Ghad Party chief Moussa Mostafa Moussa, Sisi's sole opponent in the elections, won 656,534 votes or 2.92 percent of total votes.

The authority said earlier that it will announce on Monday the final result of Egypt's 2018 presidential election, in which President Abdel Fattah Sisi competed for a second term with Mousa Mostafa Mousa, head of Al Ghad party.

The NEA confirmed the review of the results has been accurately completed, after adding the votes of the Egyptian expatriates abroad, reported Masrawy.

The winner of the presidential elections will take office on June 8 for the next four years, following the official end of the first term of President Abdel Fattah Sisi on June 7, in accordance with Article 140 of the Egyptian Constitution.

Egyptian supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attend a rally in a neighbourhood in Cairo on March 9, 2018. (AFP)

The NEA also announced that March 30 was the last day to accept appeals from presidential candidates regarding the decisions and results of the general committees in the presidential election 2018, in preparation for the announcement of the final results on Monday.

Mahmoud Hilmi al-Sharif, deputy chairman of the Egypt's National Elections Authority and its spokesman, said that they have not received any appeals on the results of the public committees during the official period of the appeal, and that last Saturday and Sunday were dedicated for that purpose.

"The election was an epic of love dedicated to Egypt," said Lasheen Ibrahim, the head of the election commission, who announced the official results in a televised news conference. "It was an epic that embodied the struggle of the people for justice, dignity and democracy."

Addressing voters, Lasheen said: "You proved your love for Egypt and that you were and still are behind your country. Your participation was not in response to either promises or threats, but rather motived only by your love for Egypt."

(With Agencies)