Egypt's Sisi cruising to re-election victory, but with lower voter turnout

Early results from Egypt'selection showed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi cruising towardhis expected landslide victory and a second term, but with alower turnout than the vote that brought him to power four yearsago.

As ballots are tallied for official results due on April 2,the focus is on turnout since Sisi faced no credible opposition after a crackdown against serious challengers. Critics say thecontest recalled the kind of vote that kept Arab autocrats in power for decades before the 2011 Arab Spring.

Initial estimates by state media placed turnout at around 40per cent at most, well below the 47 per cent in the vote that brought Sisi his first term in 2014.

The former military commander overthrew Islamist MohammedMorsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, during turmoil in2013 that followed a popular uprising two years earlier.

Sisi was first elected in 2014 with 97 per cent of the voteand has this time won around 92 per cent, according to preliminaryresults, state news agency MENA reported, citing state-run newspapers. It said between 23 and 25 million people had voted, outof an electorate of 59 million.

Authorities were keen to ensure a higher turnout this timearound as Sisi saw attendance at polls as a referendum on hispopularity and was seeking a strong mandate to fight militantsand push through tough economic reforms.

State-run media trumpeted Sisi's victory early on Thursday,predicting a "big turnout,"and radio programs said that mostof the voters were from Egypt's fast-growing youth.

"The people have chosen their president," the front page ofstate-run daily Al-Ahram said.

Early indications from sources monitoring the vote, however,suggested turnout could be lower than in the 2014 election.

On the first two days of voting, turnout was about 21per cent, two sources monitoring the election said, and a Western diplomat said that late on Tuesday it was between 15 and 20per cent.

The two sources had said late on Wednesday the final turnoutfigure could be less than 40 per cent.

Voters paid, opposition crushed

It appeared that more people spoiled their ballots thanvoted for Sisi's sole challenger, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, who haswidely been dismissed as a dummy candidate, the sources said.

"All preliminary reports suggest that turnout is down compared to 2014 despite all the efforts that have been made to raise the numbers," Timothy Kaldas, non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said.

"But it's not clear what consequence the turnout will reallyhave on a government that doesn't appear to believe the peopleshould have a say in who rules them to begin with," he said.

Egyptian authorities and media outlets have tried to garneras many votes as possible, telling voters it is their duty, andportraying a failure to vote as betrayal of their country.

Other tactics have also been deployed, with some voters saying they were paid and given other incentives to cast their ballots.

All serious opposition dropped out the election race earlierthis year, citing intimidation after the main challenger, another former military chief, was arrested. Egypt's election commissionsaid the vote would be free and fair, and Sisi said he wishedmore candidates had run.

Sisi's presidency has returned the military to power afterturmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtimeleader Hosni Mubarak.