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Are Egyptians Redefining Politics For Or Against Democracy?

Are Egyptians Redefining Politics For Or Against Democracy?

Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won a landslide victory in a presidential election today but low voter turnout threatened to deprive him of the strong mandate he needs to fix the economy and face down an Islamist insurgency, Reuters reports.

Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, with most ballots counted after three days of voting. His only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, won 3 percent while 3.7 percent of votes were declared void.

As Egyptian military supporters celebrate their triumph over the Muslim Brotherhood, youth activists say their own support base has dwindled, and opposing the government is increasingly dangerous, VoiceofAmerica reports.

But they say going forward, they hope to re-define Egyptian politics, as neither for, nor against Islamism, but for or against democracy.

Egyptian street protests have helped topple two presidents in three years, Reuters reports.

Turnout was about 46 percent of Egypt’s 54 million voters, the government said. It was also less than the 52 percent turnout in the 2012 presidential election won by Mohamed Mursi, the Islamist leader Sisi ousted in 2013 year after mass protests.