Egypt s Sisi reelected with landslide 97% of votes

Cairo April 2 (IANS) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was reelected for a second term in a landslide victory garnering 97.08 per cent of votes the National Electoral Authority (NEA) announced on Monday.

Sisi was widely expected to win since his rival little-known politician Mousa Mostafa Mousa previously offered his support to Sisi and barely campaigned in the run-up to the election Efe news agency reported.

NEA Chairman Lashin Ibrahim announced in a press conference that participation among Egypt s nearly 60 million eligible voters both in the country and abroad reached 41.05 per cent (24 254 152 voters) compared to the 47.45 per cent in the 2014 election in which Sisi came to power for the first time.

Sisi received 21 835 387 votes to Mousa s 656 534.

The election was held under tight security on March 26-28 at over 13 700 polling stations and was supervised by nine Arab and international organisations and 50 local civil organisations as well as the Arab League and the African Union.

The NEA previously decided that eligible Egyptian citizens who abstained from voting in the presidential election would be fined 500 Egyptian pounds (about $28).

--IANS
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