Africa is full of serving or retired top military officers who got to the seat of national power before transforming to elected Heads of state. But only a few in this class will hardly lose election or quit the stage voluntarily. Once they get to power, they prefer to cling on there forever.
We hear that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second term with 92 percent of the vote. About 23 million of the 60 million registered voters turned out during the three days of polling that ended last Wednesday.
According to reports, in addition to those who cast valid votes, two million spoiled their ballot papers, inserting the names of candidates who were not among the only two approved. The incumbent’s sole challenger was the little-known Moussa Mostafa Moussa, who used to be a supporter of the president.
More vocal and influential politicians, who would have challenged the president more effectively, were all forced to pull out.
As army chief, General Sisi ousted Mohammed Morsi, the first freely elected president of Egypt, who was accused of being an Islamist after the mass protests in 2013. The next year he transmuted to a civilian leader and won his first term with about 97 percent of the vote.
The removal of Morsi, supported by the Western nations had ushered in a crackdown in which hundreds of Islamists were either jailed or killed. The initial crackdown on Morsi’s supporters expanded to include liberal and leftist secular activists.
Announcing the poll result, an official of the electoral body, Mahmud al-Sherif, said Egypt’s election law was properly observed. Opposition groups had called for a boycott of the vote which they described as a fake.
