Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
With 89.6% of the vote, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was re-elected to a six-year term, the electoral authorities declared on Monday.
Authority head Hazem Badawy reported that 66.8% of voters cast ballots, a “unprecedented” turnout.
Sisi, a former army chief who has controlled the most populous Arab nation for ten years, has received almost 39 million votes.
In the election that took place between December 10 and 12, the president faced opposition from three relative unknowns.
Hazem Omar, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, came in second place with 4.5 percent of the vote.
Next were Abdel-Sanad Yamama of the century-old but comparatively small Wafd party and Farid Zahran, the leader of the left-leaning Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
Starting in April, Sisi will begin his third and, as per the constitution, final term in office.
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Despite Egypt experiencing its greatest economic crisis to date and high levels of tension surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict in neighboring Gaza, Sisi’s victory is not surprising.
The value of the currency has fallen, and annual inflation is currently at 36.4 percent. This has caused prices for several staple foods to rise weekly, severely impacting household finances.
About two thirds of Egypt’s population, which is close to 106 million, lived at or below the poverty line even before the present economic crisis.
