Egypt’s ex-army chief declared new president
An Egyptian supporter of Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the nation’s former military chief, wears a toy tank on his head as he holds a poster showing him with images of late presidents Anwar Sadat, top left, Gamal Abdel Nasser, top right and Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour, bottom right, during a celebration in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, May 30, 2014. AP
CAIRO — The Election Commission says former army chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi won Egypt’s presidential elections by a landslide victory of 96.9 percent of the vote, with turnout 47.45 percent.
Anwar el-Assi, the commission’s president, said el-Sissi received 23.78 million votes, while his sole rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, got 3 percent of the vote.
After the announcement, several hundred people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square set off fireworks, cheered and sang pro-military songs.
El-Sissi’s victory was never in doubt, but the career infantry officer had pushed for a massive turnout as well to bestow legitimacy on his ouster last July of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the ensuing crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist supporters.
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