Cairo [Egypt], December 19: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has secured a third term in office, the National Election Authority said on Monday.
Sissi received 89.6% of the vote. He ran against three other candidates. The election was held over three days between December 10 and 12.
The authority put turnout in last week's presidential election at around 66.8%. The previous election, held in 2018, had a registered turnout of 41%.
National Election Authority head Hazem Badawy called the level of voter participation in this year's election "unprecedented."
"The voting percentage is the highest in the history of Egypt," he said.
The leader of the Republican People's Party, Hazem Omar, received 4.5% of the vote.
Farid Yahran of the centre-left Egyptian Social Democratic Party came in third place, and Abdel-Sana Yamama of the liberal Wafd party came fourth.
The former military leader was first elected president in 2014, after ousting and outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood that led the previous government, and was handed a second term in 2018. In both elections he garnered 97% of the vote.
Egypt's constitution limits presidents from serving more than three terms in office. The duration of terms was adjusted from four to six years by a 2019 constitutional amendment, meaning el-Sissi is likely to rule until 2030.
The incumbent's victory was widely regarded as a foregone conclusion, as his three opponents were largely marginal political figures.
El-Sissi's most prominent challenger halted his campaign in October, saying that officials and thugs targeted his supporters. The National Election Authority dismissed the accusations.
In his election campaign, el-Sissi pledged to address the country's economy, which has been grappling with a major crisis. His government initiated an International Monetary Fund-backed reform program in 2016, but the austerity measures led to a steep increase in prices.
Source: Times of Oman
