Former army chief Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi was elected the new president of Egypt last Tuesday. The general, who retired from his position in the military, beat his only opponent, Hamdeen Sabahi, by gaining 96.9% of the vote. He was, however, disappointed by the number of people who turned up to vote which was less than half of the total population. He had previously stated that he wanted at least 74% of the population to vote, in order for there to be ‘consensus on a national level’.
Despite the low number of voters, thousands of Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo, specifically its famous Tahrir Square in celebration of their new President. Fireworks exploded, Egyptian flags were sold and waved and many were filled with the hope, that el-Sisi will somehow turn the country’s fate, which has been riddled with political and economic uncertainty, around. In his first speech as president el-Sisi thanked voters for their participation in the elections and stated that he hopes “to be worthy of the trust you granted me”.
The king of Saudi Arabia a supporter of Sisi, pledged to organise a donor conference to help Egypt ‘overcome its economic crisis’, in a letter. He also described el-Sisi’s election as a ‘historic day and a new stage for Egypt’.
President Obama also hopes to speak to the new president in the coming weeks and the white house stated that they are looking forward to working with the Egyptian president to ‘to advance our strategic partnership and the many interests shared by the United States and Egypt’.
