Egypt re-elects Sisi as president

Sisi sweeps to inevitable victory in lop-sided election race.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 per cent of the vote, securing a landslide victory - as was widely expected - against the minor opposition candidate Moussa Mustafa Mousssa of the obscure centrist liberal secular party El Ghad.
Sisi won a total of 21.8 million votes while his opponent - considered by many as a mere puppet challenger - won 656,534 votes in the 26-28 March poll which was described as "free and fair" by Egypt's electoral commission. During the election campaign Sisi faced criticism after several high-profile candidates bailed out of the race over alleged intimidation from the state.
Sisi's 97 per cent win mirrors the election result that saw the former military commander elected for the first time four years ago. However this time round voter turnout was lower, at 41 per cent, down six percentage points on the 2014 election.
In addition, the proportion of spoiled votes - a total of 1.8 million - was more than seven per cent, higher than in any previous Egyptian election.