Mubarak wins Egypt's first open vote
Egyptian president wins by landslide with 88 percent of the vote; the 77-year-old leader has ruled Egypt for 24 years
President Hosni Mubarak was officially declared the victor of Egypt's first contested presidential elections Friday, but the vote was marred by a lower than expected turnout of 23 percent.
The low participation reflected widespread skepticism among Egyptians over the government's claims that the election opens the door to greater democratic reform and apathy over a vote that Mubarak was certain to win.
Before Wednesday's election, officials in Mubarak's ruling party said they hoped at least 30 percent of the 32 million registered voters would cast ballots.
Prior to publication of the final election results, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Mubarak to congratulate him on his winning victory. Sharon also thanked the Egyptian president for his contribution towards reaching an agreement regarding the Philadelphi route and border crossings.
The 77-year-old Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for 24 years, had won a new six-year term with 88.571 percent of the vote, the head of the elections commission, Mahmoud Marie, told reporters, announcing the final results.
Second place went to Ayman Nour of the opposition al-Ghad party, with 7.3 percent of the vote. The other main opposition candidate, Noaman Gomaa of the Wafd Party, received 2.8 percent.
Most opponents boycotted elections
The election was the first ever in which Mubarak faced a competitor after years of being re-elected in "Yes-no" referendums in which he was the sole candidate.
His government has touted the change as a major democratic reform, and as a candidate Mubarak promised further change.
But opponents were skeptical, with most major parties boycotting the election.
Marie, who is the top judge on Egypt's highest court, said the vote was clean and that allegations of violations came out of "over-enthusiasm in a nascent experiment that will be the cornerstone in the construction of democracy."
On Thursday, Nour demanded the election be repeated because of the allegations, but the commission - which reform-minded judges have accused of being dominated by the government - rejected the request.
Third-place finisher Gomaa said Friday his party would put together a list of the election violations it witnessed and present them to the commission. But, speaking to Al-Jazeera television, he acknowledged that the violations were not enough to affect Mubarak's victory.
