Current:Home > MyEl-Sissi wins Egypt’s presidential election with 89.6% of the vote and secures third term in office -Legacy Profit Partners
El-Sissi wins Egypt’s presidential election with 89.6% of the vote and secures third term in office
View
Date:2025-04-12 16:26:18
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has ruled with an unquestioned grip for the past nine years, won reelection to a third, six-year term in office, election authorities announced Monday. He ran against three virtually unknown opponents.
El-Sissi recorded a landslide victory, securing 89.6% of the vote, the National Election Authority said. Turnout was 66.8% of more than 67 million registered voters.
“The voting percentage is the highest in the history of Egypt,” declared Hazem Badawy, the election commission chief, who announced the official results in a televised news conference.
The vote was overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Egypt’s eastern border, which has threatened to expand into wider regional turmoil.
The North African country is also in the midst of an economic crisis, with monthly inflation surging above 30%. Over the past 22 months, the Egypt pound has lost 50% of value against the dollar with one third of the country’s 105 million people already living in poverty, according to official figures.
A key Western ally in the region, el-Sissi has faced international criticism over Egypt’s human rights record and harsh crackdown on dissent. A career army officer, el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president amid widespread street protests against his one-year rule.
El-Sissi was first elected as president in mid-2014, then reelected in 2018. A year later, constitutional amendments, passed in a general referendum, added two years to el-Sissi’s second term, and allowed him to run for a third, six-year term.
His victory in the latest election was widely deemed a foregone conclusion. His three opponents were marginal political figures who were rarely seen during the election campaign.
Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party, came second with 4.5% of the vote, followed by Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party with 4%. Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the Wafd Party, received less than 2% of the vote.
An ambitious young presidential hopeful, Ahmed Altantawy, dropped out of the race after he failed to secure the required signatures from residents to secure his candidacy. He was considered el-Sissi’s most credible opposition figure and said that harassment from security agencies against his campaign staff and supporters prevented him from reaching the vote threshold for candidacy.
In the months prior to the election, el-Sissi vowed to address the country’s ailing economy without offering specifics.
Experts and economists widely agree that the current crisis stems from years of mismanagement and lopsided economy where private firms are squeezed out by state-owned companies. The Egyptian economy has also been hurt by the wider repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, which rattled the global market.
El-Sissi’s government initiated an ambitious IMF-backed reform program in 2016, but the austerity measures sent prices soaring, exacting a heavy toll on ordinary Egyptians.
Last December, the government secured a second IMF deal on the promise of implementing economic reforms, including a floating exchange rate. The coast of basic goods have since jumped, particularly imports.
Timothy Kaldas, deputy director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, said a quick fix to Egypt’s economy is highly unlikely.
Inflation will remain high and investors weary, he said. “Without inclusive growth and investment, Egypt will never reach a stable footing.”
Under el-Sissi’s watch, thousands of government critics have been silenced or jailed. They are mainly Islamists but also prominent secular activists and opposition figures, including many of those behind the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
veryGood! (258)
Related
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Middle America’s Low-Hanging Carbon: The Search for Greenhouse Gas Cuts from the Grid, Agriculture and Transportation
- Taylor Lautner’s Response to Olivia Rodrigo’s New Song “Vampire” Will Make Twihards Howl
- Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan Respond to Criticism of Their 16-Year Age Gap
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Louisiana’s Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Imposed Harsh Penalties for Trespassing on Industrial Land
- Binance was once FTX's rival and possible savior. Now it's trying not to be its sequel
- Amazon Shoppers Swear by This Affordable Travel Size Hair Straightener With 4,600+ Five-Star Reviews
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Was your flight to Europe delayed? You might be owed up to $700.
Ranking
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Can shark repellents avoid your becoming shark food?
- Anthropologie Quietly Added Thousands of New Items to Their Sale Section: Get a $110 Skirt for $20 & More
- Super-Polluting Methane Emissions Twice Federal Estimates in Permian Basin, Study Finds
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Passenger says he made bomb threat on flight to escape cartel members waiting to torture and kill him in Seattle, documents say
- Many Nations Receive Failing Scores on Climate Change and Health
- Anthropologie Quietly Added Thousands of New Items to Their Sale Section: Get a $110 Skirt for $20 & More
Recommendation
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
Kristen Stewart and Fiancée Dylan Meyer's New Film Will Have You Flying High
Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa's Baby Boy Tristan Undergoes Tongue-Tie Revision
Jennifer Lopez Sizzles in Plunging Wetsuit-Inspired Gown at The Flash Premiere
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
Where Tom Schwartz Stands With Tom Sandoval After Incredibly Messed Up Affair With Raquel Leviss
With Coal’s Dominance in Missouri, Prospects of Clean Energy Transition Remain Uncertain
Entrepreneurs Built Iowa’s Solar Economy. A Utility’s Push for Solar Fees Could Shut Them Down.