Sisi election win never doubted

Preliminary results in the Egypt election show retired field marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received 96 per cent of votes.

The election as Egypt's president of ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was never in doubt, with only a token challenger and the banned Muslim Brotherhood and liberal youth groups boycotting the vote.

Preliminary results from this week's two-day election, that was extended to three days because of low turnout, gave 96 per cent of votes to the retired field marshal who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July.

Hamdeen Sabbahi, who won less than four per cent, was criticised for taking part in what rights activists and political analysts say was a "cosmetic" election to rubber stamp Sisi's formal accession to power.

The election was boycotted not only by the Brotherhood of Morsi, Egypt's first civilian and freely elected president, it was also shunned by the April 6 youth group that spearheaded the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Their absence was a major contributing factor in Sisi failing to get the sweeping endorsement hoped for to put a stamp of legitimacy on Morsi's ouster and the subsequent bloody crackdown on the Brotherhood.

Indeed, after voting was extended for a day, authorities put turnout at about 25 million people, or 47 per cent, down from nearly 52 per cent when Morsi was elected in 2012.

Both the Brotherhood and April 6, who are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, have been blacklisted by the authorities.

A European Union team that observed the election regretted on Thursday the lack of participation of some "stakeholders," a likely reference to the Brotherhood and youthful dissidents.

It also said private media provided Sisi with more than twice the coverage provided to Sabbahi.

Since Morsi's ouster, Sisi has been hailed as a hero and a saviour by the overwhelming majority of private media.

The authorities are touting the election as a milestone on the road to democracy following Morsi's ouster, but Human Rights Watch said the state crackdown stripped the elections of real meaning.