Egypt’s Sisi set for sweeping victory

Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was on course for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election, according to early provisional results. Mr Sisi’s campaign said the former army chief had captured 93.4 per cent of the vote with 2,000 polling stations counted, while judicial sources said he had 89 per cent with 3,000 polling stations counted.

Mr Sisi’s only rival, veteran leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, was on 2.9 per cent according to the same sources. The partial results came 90 minutes after polls closed after three days of voting. Turnout was 44.4 per cent. The final figures will be announced on June 5th.

Voting had been slow on the third day, which had been added because turnout was below expectations on Monday and Tuesday, the two days set for the poll.

Standing outside the fine arts college in the upscale neighbourhood of Zamalek, Nuha, a volunteer who helped voters navigate the polling stations, remarked on the lack of voters yesterday. “There was no point in having a third day. It was announced [Tuesday] night when a crowd of voters were here. Everyone who wanted to vote had already voted.” One European observer said there were few voters at the nine Cairo stations he visited on Tuesday, and of these two-thirds were women.

Egyptians, recalling earlier eras, joked that there was no point in voting on the third day because ballot boxes had already been stuffed overnight with their votes.

Undermine legitimacy

The low turnout threatens to undermine the legitimacy of Mr Sisi, who had been expected to better the 52 per cent turnout in 2012 that brought the Muslim Brotherhood’s

Mohamed Morsi

to power. Mr Morsi was deposed last July by the military after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest against his rule.

Many Egyptians are surprised at the low turnout because Mr Sisi is seen as the person to restore security and stability in Egypt at a time when the country is facing a Muslim Brotherhood revolt, radical jihadi attacks, and economic meltdown.

There was criticism of Mr Sisi for failing to vigorously contest the election, appearing only in several carefully choreographed television broadcasts. One of the reasons argued was that he could be assassinated if he appeared in public.

The low turnout could be a blessing for the weak opposition parties. They have yet to form a united front and a programme for the new era that is expected to be dominated by the politico-military establishment that has ruled Egypt for 44 years rather than the reformist liberals of the 2011 uprising that brought down President Hosni Mubarak. – (additional reporting Reuters)