Sisi to Egyptians: I pledge to keep serving the nation

CAIRO – 2 April 2018: In a televised speech after winning a second four-year term, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi pledged to keep his promise in serving the nation and thanked all Egyptians for trusting him to lead the country.

“With complete honesty, I pledge to keep my promise with you and to dedicate myself to spare no efforts for our great nation,” Sisi said on Monday. The national unity that was shown during the election was strong evidence of Egypt’s solid power against those who wanted to undermine the country, he added.

The 63-year-old president renewed his promise to keep maintaining the stability and development of the country, saying that he will serve all segments of Egypt’s society, including the opposition.

Sisi praised Egyptian women's role in the society, as well as the security and military forces who spared no efforts in securing the state during the presidential election. Sisi also thanked his rival, Moussa Moustafa Moussa.

In a press conference on Monday afternoon, National Election Authority (NEA) Chairperson Lasheen Ibrahim announced that Sisi will be Egypt’s president for a second four-year term, after winning 97.08 percent of valid votes – more than 21.8 million votes. Meanwhile, Moussa received only 656,534 votes, making up 2.9 percent of the valid ballots.

“If I competed against another candidate, I would have obtained a higher percentage,” Moussa told Extra News on Monday following a press conference in which he congratulated Sisi for his landslide victory.

The 2018 presidential election is the third in Egypt since the January 2011 revolution.

Citizens in various places in Egypt began celebrating the victory shortly after the NEA's press conference. The poll itself witnessed major celebrations by voters, a show of joy that has been a custom in all the elections that followed the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood-led regime in July 2013.