King Salman of Saudi Arabia congratulates Sisi for winning 2nd term

CAIRO – 2 April 2018: Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud congratulated President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi for winning a second four-year presidential term in a phone call, according to Saudi owned-news agency SPA.

During the call, Salman told President Sisi that this “huge win” reflects the trust of the Egyptian people in his ability. He also praised the close relations of the two countries, and Sisi’s continued efforts in countering terrorism and achieving stability.

President Sisi garnered 97.08 percent of valid votes in the presidential election last week, where more than 21.8 million people voted for him. His competitor, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, received 656,534 votes, making up 2.9 percent of the valid ballots.
The turnout stood at 24,254,152 voters, representing 41 percent of 50,078,138 registered voters

Much like the 2014 election, where Sisi competed against well-known politician Hamdeen Sabahy, void votes ranked second in the poll. In the 2014 vote, 23.4 million people voted for Sisi, void votes accounted for one million ballots, and Sabahy won 740,000 votes.

In 2018, void votes made up 7.27 percent of the total votes, accounting for 1.762 million ballots. If void votes are not excluded from the result, Sisi's share of the total votes would be 90 percent.

In a press conference on Monday, the National Elections Authority announced the unsurprising figures. Head of the National Elections Authority, Ibrahim Lasheen, applauded the turnout of Egyptian expats abroad, and the judicial supervision of the poll.