Egyptians began voting on Monday in a presidential election that guarantees victory to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, running virtually unchallenged with all credible candidates intimidated or locked up. Sisi, who appears to see the vote more as a referendum on his rule than a serious democratic contest, has urged Egyptians to vote, hoping a large turnout will give him a mandate to repair the economy, crush Islamists fighting to topple him and revive Egypt's diminished regional clout.
Opposition figures have called for a boycott, while the president's sole challenger is Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a Sisi supporter widely seen as a dummy candidate. Sisi's top potential challenger, influential former military chief of staff Sami Anan, was arrested and halted his presidential bid; another serious contender, ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafik, dropped his campaign, apparently under pressure.
Egypt's election commission said the election would be free and fair, and Sisi said he would have liked more candidates running. By evening, turnout among the 59 million eligible voters appeared low, but there are two more days for Egyptians to cast votes, and official media hammered the message that voting was a national duty to foil the country's "enemies".
Sisi, an ex-general who in 2013 led the military overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, is trying to defeat Islamist insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula and complete a series of mega-projects inaugurated with great fanfare since he came to power. Those who cast ballots said they were voting for stability.
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