Alwaght- Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has won a second term with 97% of the vote and 41% of voter turnout after his serious challengers were barred from running.
Almost 100% Egyptians have given about 22 million votes for incumbent president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with a 41.05 percent voter turnout, Egypt's election commission announced.
Egyptians cast their ballots electing the new head of state from March 26-28.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a former military commander, became Egyptian president in 2014 and has now been re-elected to another four-year term.
According to local media, el-Sisi 's rival Moussa Mustafa Moussa is a distant second with only 721,000 votes or 3% support in the country.
A total of 60 million Egyptians were eligible to vote in the three-day election, which started on Monday.
Following an election that included no public debates, Egypt’s opposition is hoping that el-Sisi’s second term will present new opportunities to challenge his grip on power. El-Sisi crushed all dissent in his bid to seek a second term in office, with five potential opponents prevented from getting on the ballot. Despite el-Sisi’s inevitable victory, the race also highlighted discontent at his rule from within the state itself.
In a push by authorities for a higher turnout last week, voters were given 50 to 100 Egyptian pounds ($3 to $5), or even a box of food or amusement park tickets to encourage them to vote.
In Cairo, two campaigns - "For the love of Egypt" and "We are all with you for the sake of Egypt" - were backed by the Ministry of Youth and In the Support of Egypt Coalition, the majority parliamentary bloc.
In a televised speech after winning a second four-year term, President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi pledged to keep his promise in serving the nation and thanked all Egyptians for trusting him to lead the country.
“With complete honesty, I pledge to keep my promise with you and to dedicate myself to spare no efforts for our great nation,” el-Sisi said on Monday. The national unity that was shown during the election was strong evidence of Egypt’s solid power against those who wanted to undermine the country, he added.
El-Sisi, a former general, led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, a move that derailed the people’s uprising that ousted longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The United Nations expressed concern over the crackdown on dissent, including on media, which took place before last week's vote.
El-Sisi's main Western and regional allies have been mostly silent over widespread human rights abuses in Egypt.
