Sisi sweeps to third term as president

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has swept to a third, six-year term as Egypt's president, winning 89.6 percent of votes in an election in which he faced no serious challengers, the National Election Authority announced yesterday.

The election took place as Egypt struggles with a slow-burning economic crisis and tries to manage the risk of spillover from the war in Gaza, which borders Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Some voters said the eruption of conflict in Gaza had encouraged them to vote for Sisi, who has long presented himself as a bulwark of stability in a volatile region - an argument that has also proved effective with Gulf and Western allies providing financial support to his government.

Voting in Egypt was held over three days on December 10-12, with the state and tightly controlled domestic media pushing hard to boost turnout, which the election authority said had reached 66.8 percent. The election featured three other candidates, none of them high profile.

The most prominent potential challenger halted his run in October, saying officials and thugs had targeted his supporters - accusations dismissed by the National Election Authority.

Egypt's state media body has said the vote was a step towards political pluralism and authorities have denied violations of electoral rules.