CAIRO - 2 April 2018: After the National Election Authority had counted the votes of Egyptians abroad and the votes of Egyptians within the country, it will declare the final results of the 2018 presidential election and the governorates with highest and lowest turnout on Monday.
According to the Egyptian Constitution, the National Election Authority is the only organization permitted to declare the presidential election’s results during a press conference. The conference is scheduled to be held at 3 p.m. on Monday, after which the results will be published in the gazette.
Deputy Chairman of the National Election Authority, Mahmoud Helmy el-Sherif, declared that the current term will end on June 2; hence, the president will be required to swear in before the specified date in line with the Constitution.
In a stunning culmination of a populist and prodigious turnout in Egypt’s 2018 presidential election, according to early estimates after polling stations closed Wednesday after a three-day election, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi seems to have attained a landslide election victory. President Sisi competed against Al-Ghad Party leader, Moussa Moustafa Moussa.
Initial figures showed that 21,088,295 voted for Sisi in polling stations across Egypt, excluding several stations in Cairo and Giza; Moussa on the other hand gathered 682,797 votes.
Egyptians queuing at polling stations is my pride: Sisi
President Sisi praised Egyptian voters on Twitter, five minutes after polling stations shut their doors on Wednesday March 28, marking the end of the third and last day of voting for the first round of the presidential election.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi cast his vote in the presidential election on Monday at Mostafa Youssri Abou Emeira School in Heliopolis- press photo
“The voice of Egyptians is, beyond any reasonable doubt, a testament of our nation's will to strongly impose itself. The scene of Egyptians queuing at polling stations is my pride and bears silent witness to our nation's greatness, whose sons have shed much blood for its future,” Sisi tweeted.
Egyptians headed to the polls from March 26 to 28 to cast their votes for the 2018 presidential election between the incumbent president and the head of Al-Ghad party.
Alexandria, Cairo, Giza and North Sinai governorates have recorded the highest turnout, according to a statement by the Supreme Media Council released late Tuesday March 27.
Pleased regardless of the results
For his part, candidate Moussa said in a phone call to CBC Extra "the initial indicators of presidential polls showed my defeat; however I am pleased with the result whatever it is."
Presidential candidate Moussa Moustafa Moussa
Moussa, the sole contender of incumbent President Sisi, added that the voting process was positive, expecting that the turnout will exceed 50 percent.
Moussa further added that the Egyptian people are the actual winners in the election, while stressing his willingness to cooperate with President Sisi in his upcoming four-year term.
Polling stations nationwide started sorting and counting ballots late Wednesday, with initial indicators showing that Sisi obtained about 90 percent of the votes.
In an earlier interview with the Guardian, Moussa said he was optimistic about his chances of beating his sole challenger, President Sisi.
Moussa also affirmed that he is a real competitor and not a puppet, saying, “Whoever wants a puppet can get one from the other 104 political parties. He cannot make a puppet out of me.”
Electoral process meets international standards: NGOs
Several national and other non-governmental organizations monitoring the election confirmed that the electoral process in Egypt has met international standards.
"Egyptian voters are not only exercising their constitutional right to partake in the electoral process, but they are also doing so with reasonability and accountability”, stated Dalia Ziada, president of the Liberal Democracy Institute on Wednesday..
Hop Kvingeri, head of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s mission to monitor the 2018 presidential election, has praised the National Election Authority for conducting the election honorably.
During a press conference held on Thursday, Kvingeri applauded the great role fulfilled by the judges in monitoring the election professionally, stating that the mission toured the polling stations and has not noticed any irregularities.
She expressed her gratitude to the security forces, who highly secured the presidential election during a sensitive period.
SIS: Foreign media coverage ‘positive, objective’
Foreign media such as CNN and BBC have published positive reports about the presidential election, and no trespasses have been observed from foreign media coverage of the election, except for the coverage from both Al-Jazeera channel and Turkish channels according to Mohammed Imam, head of the State Information Service’s operations room.
State Information Service's Logo - File photo
Through its operations room, the State Information Service continued to communicate with foreign correspondents, who had been following the election process since voting started on Monday, March 26.
Imam mentioned that the long queues before the polling stations forced foreign media to be neutral while covering the election. During the election, Imam encouraged people to go to the polls and practice their right to vote.
Comments
Leave a Comment