President al-Sissi largely re-elected for a third term

The military, who came to power in 2013 through a coup d’état, faced no serious competitor, and received almost 90% of the votes.

An unsurprising victory. Outgoing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, 69, won the presidential election in Egypt with 89.6% of the vote, securing a third six-year term, the electoral authority announced on Monday, December 18 Egyptian.

The head of the authority, Hazem Badawy, said participation had reached a rate “unprecedented” of 66.8% of the 67 million Egyptian voters. In the last presidential election, it was 41.5%. In this country of 106 million inhabitants, more than 39 million voters voted for President al-Sissi, according to the electoral authority.

Apart from the outgoing president, three candidates almost unknown to the general public were in the running. Despite Egypt’s economic difficulties, no serious opposition seems to exist under the reign of President al-Sissi, the fifth president from the ranks of the army since 1962.

Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who rules the country with an iron fist, came to power in 2013 by overthrowing Islamist Mohamed Morsi. He has since extended the length of the presidential term and authorized a third consecutive term.