Egypt: Sisi Wins Presidential Election
By Staff Writer
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be Egypt’s fifth head of state after he scored a landslide presidential election win with more than 93.3% of total votes, 11 months after the ouster of the only country non-military president, Mohamed Morsi.
Initial numbers showed that more than 46% of Egypt's 53 million eligible voters participated, a respectable turnout comparable with previous post 2011 polls, but which was only achieved after Presidential Election Committee (PEC) announced last minute changes extending voting to day three, threatening non-voters with large fines on Tuesday May 27.
It was also substantially lower than the 80% turnout president elect had called for in the days before the election.
A decision US-based Democracy International (DI) strongly criticized on Wednesday May 28, terming it as “the latest in a series of unusual steps that have seriously harmed the credibility of the process.”
DI is among six international observer missions approved by the Supreme Electoral Committee to observe Egypt’s second presidential election while others include the European Union, the African Union and the Arab League.
“Last-minute decisions about important election procedures, such a decision to extend polling by an additional day, should be made only in extraordinary circumstances.” Eric Bjornlund, president of DI said.
Yet, statistically, his victory was a strong one – dwarfing the 13 million who voted in 2012 for Morsi, the man Sisi ousted from office last summer. Whether from fear or affection, many have demonstrably placed their trust in a strongman who they hope can stabilize Egypt after three years of post-revolutionary unrest.
A tour by Reuters of the polling stations suggested turnout was low. Many Egyptians said voters had stayed at home due to political apathy, opposition to another military man becoming president, discontent at suppression of freedoms among liberal youth, and calls for a boycott by Islamist s.
The longtime opposition figure and only rival at the poll, Hamdeen Sabbahi, who won less than four per cent, conceded defeat on Thursday but cast doubt on the estimated turnout figure of 47 per cent after calls for a high participation rate as a sign of legitimacy.
The scale of Sisi's victory came as no surprise after Egypt's top generals, media personalities and business elite united to present the former army chief as the only patriotic choice, and most challengers declined to take part in the election. But the reported 46% turnout raised eyebrows because to some it seemed high. At the end of the second day of voting, Egypt's prime minister admitted the turnout had only exceeded 30%, leaving skeptics wondering how so many more voters could have participated on the third and final day.
Baseera, one of Egypt's only homegrown pollsters, said the figures seemed plausible in the context of his company's exit polls. "I think it makes sense based on our numbers," said Magued Osman, who is also a statistics professor at Cairo University. Baseera's 220-strong team interviewed more than 12,000 voters over the three days and calculated turnout to be between 42-46%.
A European Union team that observed the election said Thursday May 29; the vote was conducted “in line with the law,” although it regretted the lack of participation of some “stakeholders”, in a likely reference to Morsi’s banned Muslim Brotherhood
Opposition activists said the election was meaningless amid month’s long crackdown on dissent that has stifled Egypt's opposition and frightened all but one man from challenging Sisi.
Dozens of young activists have also been jailed for violating a law banning all but police-authorized protests.
Amid the crackdown on dissent condemned by rights groups and Western governments, the military-installed authorities had aimed for a high turnout as a sign of legitimacy.
Sabahi’s campaign claimed that dozens of its activists were arrested after challenging alleged violations at polling stations across the country.
Mona Selim, a senior organiser at the Sabahi campaign, said: "Police have arrested many members of our campaign. When we say there's something wrong with the election process, instead of writing a record of this problem, they arrest them."
When asked for comment, an official at Egypt's interior ministry declined sayingd he needed time to formulate a response.
Ahmed Abdeen, another Sabahi campaigner, argued that the police "want to punish [Sabahi] for being the revolution's candidate because they stand with the army's man, Sisi, and because they want revenge on the revolution."
"People don't feel any elections have made any difference," said Ahmed Hassan, 27, a dentist who declared he had not bothered to vote. "I'm not boycotting – I just don't care. There's no point. They've proved that our involvement is not important."
Business community Mohamed El Sewedy, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said, however: "The business community is very happy about the results. We need real reforms and opportunities ... a guy with courage to make decisions.”
Most Egyptian newspapers, who have been showering Sisi with praise for months, celebrated the result, with state-run Al-Akhbar calling it "a day of hope for all Egyptians". Sisi is seen by supporters as a strong figure that can end the turmoil that has convulsed Egypt for three years since the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.