President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt has won a third term as the president of the largest country in the Middle East. The National Elections Authority announced on Monday that Sisi obtained 89.6 percent of the vote after the completion of vote counting from the election run between December 10 and 12.
According to Hazem Badawy, the head of the authority, voter turnout reached an all-time high of 66.8 percent. Over 39 million Egyptians voted for Sisi, a former army chief who has been in power for ten years in the most populous Arab country.
Despite the certainty of the outcome, the election took place amidst multiple crises in Egypt, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the country's severe economic downturn.
In spite of the difficulties faced by Egypt, a crackdown on dissent over the past ten years has effectively removed any significant opposition to Sisi, the country's fifth president from a military background since 1952.
During the election, Sisi faced three other candidates, none of whom were prominent figures. The most notable potential candidate withdrew from the race, citing obstacles to his campaign and the arrest of many of his supporters.
The runner-up, Hazem Omar, who leads the Republican People's Party, received only 4.5 percent of the votes.
Following him were Farid Zahran, leader of the left-leaning Egyptian Social Democratic Party, and Abdel-Sanad Yamama from the Wafd Party, an old but relatively minor political party.
Sisi is now positioned to begin his third term in office, which, according to the constitution, will be his final term, starting in April.
After the popularly elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in 2013, Sisi assumed power and was later re-elected in 2018, triumphing with 97 percent of the vote on both occasions. During his tenure, Sisi extended the presidential term from four to six years and modified the constitution to permit three consecutive terms in office.
Throughout his rule, Egypt has witnessed a significant number of political prisoners being imprisoned, despite the pardons committee liberating approximately 1,000 people within a year. Human rights organizations claim that the number of arrests during this same timeframe was three to four times higher.
His followers gives credit to him the ability to restore tranquility in the nation following the trouble that ensued after the 2011 uprising which failed President Hosni Mubarak.
