Former PM Shafik congratulates Sisi on winning 2nd term

CAIRO – 3 April 2018: Former Egyptian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik congratulated President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi Tuesday, April 3 for winning a second term in office.

In his statement, Shafik affirmed that the country is entering a new era in which everyone is looking for more development, stability and security.

Shafik announced his intentions to run for president on November 29, 2017. However, on January 7, he published another statement on his Twitter account saying that he would not run in the election, as he thinks that “he is not the ideal candidate to lead the nation now.”

“By observing the reality, I have seen that I will not be the ideal person to lead the nation in the upcoming period; thus, I have decided not to run for president in the 2018 presidential election,” Shafik announced.

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 Moustafa Moussa, received 656,534 votes, making up 2.9 percent of the valid ballots.

The turnout stood at 24,254,152; 41.05 percent of 59,078,138 eligible voters.