Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after winning his third six-year term with a 89.6 % vote, in what Egyptian election officials called an “unprecedented” 66.8% voter turnout.
Over 39 million Egyptians cast their ballots for al-Sisi, a former army chief who has ruled the most populous Arab country for a decade.
Unlike SA, the Egyptian constitution allows for three consecutive terms, and Sisi is expected to start his final term in office starting in April next year.
Hazem Omar, who leads the Republican People’s Party, came in second and received 4.5 percent of the vote. Next was Farid Zahran, leader of the left-leaning Egyptian Social Democratic Party, and Abdel-Sanad Yamama from the Wafd, a century-old but relatively marginal party.
Ramaphosa said the historic elections reflected the will of the people of Egypt in charting their future and commended the other candidates for participating in the elections in a gracious and commendable manner.
The president said that the South African Government reiterated its commitment to continue working with the government and people of Egypt for the mutual benefit of the two countries, to build strong people-to-people ties, and collaborate together in consolidation of the African Agenda.
Egypt is currently being gripped by its worst-ever economic crisis and high tensions around the Israel-Hamas war in neighbouring Gaza, with the currency plunging and annual inflation running at 36.4 percent.
Currently about two thirds of Egypt’s population of nearly 106 million are living on or below the poverty line.
In addition, Ramaphosa said that he took note of the observations of the AU- COMESA Joint Observer Mission and that the government looked forward to further strengthening bilateral relations with the Government of Egypt.
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