Low voter turnout threatens Al-Sisi's mandate

Some 10 to 15 million votes were cast for Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi in Egypt’s presidential elections, Reuters quoted Western diplomats as saying, this is despite initial estimates indicating that nearly 24 million people voted for him.

The diplomat added that the voter turnout was between 19 and 28 per cent, much lower than official forecasts and that Al-Sisi’s call for an overwhelming mandate did not appear to have been heeded by voters.

The agency noted that Egyptians had ignored calls urging them to vote; suggesting that Al-Sisi “failed to rally the support he hoped for after toppling Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi”.

An army officer at a polling station said: “You want to speak with voters? Do you see any voters? I don’t know why they’re not coming, maybe they reject politics.”

Source: Assabeel