Egyptian Sisi poised for big election win

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is on course for a landslide election victory.

However, there was very little indication that he had got the high turnout he sought during campaigns, early estimates showed after polls closed.

Some voters claimed they had received payments and other inducements to cast their ballots in the three-day election

A few television stations report that he could garner 95 percent or more of the total votes cast.

Sisi has already issued a statement lauding Egyptians for good conduct during the election.

“The voice of the Egyptian masses will undoubtedly bear witness to the fact that our nation’s will imposes itself with a force that knows no weakness,” Sisi said on Twitter.

“The scenes of Egyptians at polling stations will remain a point of pride and honour for me and undoubted proof of the greatness of our nation that has offered the blood of its greatest sons so that we can together cross into the future.”

Hours before polls closed, the electoral commission issued a last-minute call for people to vote, hoping to boost the turnout that Sisi regards as vital to legitimising his victory.

Lasheen Ibrahim, head of the national election commission, told Egyptians: “Declare to the world that Egypt always makes history, for you are the Pharaohs, the makers of the civilization that amazed the world.”

Voting was extended by one hour, the state news agency MENA reported.

Sisi is running almost unchallenged after the other serious candidates were either arrested or intimidated.

His only opponent is Moussa Mostafa Moussa, widely perceived as a dummy candidate.