Egyptians Go to Polls to Pick a New President

Tags:
2014-05-26

Egyptians go to the polls Monday and Tuesday to elect a new president.

Former Egyptian army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who ousted the elected Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi, is widely expected to win.

The two-day election caps more than three years of political turmoil that has seen two presidents ousted following mass protests, thousands killed in clashes and militant attacks, and an economy left in tatters.

Sissi says that if he wins the election, Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has no future in Egypt. The Brotherhood was Egypt's most powerful political force until Sissi and the Egyptian army removed Morsi from office last year.

Sissi retired from the military in March to launch his candidacy.

Until Morsi, all of Egypt's previous presidents had come from military ranks. Sissi has said the army will "not have a role in ruling Egypt."

Sissi's sole competition is Hamdeen Sabahi, a leftist politician who finished third in the 2012 election that brought Morsi to power.

Source: Voice of America

  • 381 reads