"Cynicism usually accompanies Arab elections"

Following a 2-extended-to-3-day election marathon and wide calls for a boycott (most notably by the Muslim Brotherhood), according to the first unofficial results, the x-Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has won the Egyptian Presidential Elections 2014 with an estimated of 96.4% (24.56 million) of votes. His rival Hamdeen Sabahi has received about 780 thousand votes (3.1%), which is equal to about half of the submitted invalid votes - 1.28 million. Still, even despite Sisi's indisputable win over Sabahi, the interim rulers cannot be fully satisfied, as only an estimated 25 million Egyptians voted (about 47% of those qualified to vote - in order to vote in Egypt, you have to be a registered voter). When you realize, this is a country of 90 million - not quite the crushing victory they had hoped for.

A significant voting turnout in support of Sisi would have ultimately legitimized his ride to power and the crusade against terrorism. The actual turnout was smaller even than 2 years ago, when Morsy was elected (although his victory was far from crushing, with only slightly over 50% of the ballots tossed in his favor). This is the reason for the holiday on Tuesday and for the extra voting day on Wednesday (a decision, which undermined the legitimacy of this "democratic" process even further, resulting in Sabahi pulling his people out from the polling stations). On top of everything, a rumor was spread that those failing to vote would be fined with 500EGP (about 70$). In a country, where millions are struggling with poverty, this is an insane amount of money.

Robert Fisk, in his article for The Independent "Why dictators hold elections" (not the most objective journal, I am well-aware) states that "cynicism usually accompanies Arab elections" and wonders "why dictators hold elections" in the first place (please see article below). Why indeed? Remember George W. Bush and his famous "war on terror" in Iraq? And then Vladimir Putin with the epic "we will chase the terrorists in the toilet" speech? As Fisk explains, Sisi and Assad have been using the same rhetoric of "war on terror" to justify their actions and in their campaigns. For Sisi supporters, there is no doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood (officially deemed a terrorist organization and pushed back underground, from where they were briefly allowed to crawl out after 150 years during Morsy's reign) and Al Qaeda are one. And for Sisi this seems to mean precisely that a good Muslim Brotherhood member is a dead Muslim Botherhood member (see video below: "Muslim Brotherhood will not exist in Egypt if I'm elected").

But, "war on terror aside", there is another reason. The public opinion and, most notably, the Western public opinion. I asked a friend recently, why do the international observers claim that the elections in Egypt are legitimate? Why does the European Commission not speak up? Why doesn't anyone shout in alarm or leave the country in silent protest? My friend, an experienced diplomat, with an international elections observing episode in her own CV, looked down and told me something that shocked me completely: "Isn't it better that Egypt is going to have a normal president and all of what is going on here now will end?" "But this is not the point," I tried to argue. "Why don't the observers simply not come and say that they are not needed, if they really regard these elections legitimate, instead of playing along with this farce? That would be more decent, at least ..." And: "Even the constitutional referendum campaign was ridiculous, with posters telling people how to vote ("Yes for the constitution!") and people attempting a contra-campaign getting arrested. What is going on now is even worse ..." She only continued looking down. And in that moment I suddenly understood. All of my arguing and explaining was of no use. Through a conversation with one person I understood the reaction of the whole of the "western" world.

Further reading:
1. "Why dictators hold elections: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Bashar al-Assad and the facade of legitimacy", Robert Fisk, The Independent
2. "Here's Why Egypt Extended Presidential Elections to a Third Day", Jared Malsin, Time
3. "Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: Muslim Brotherhood will not exist in Egypt if I'm elected - video", The Guardian
4. "Sisi wins Egypt's Presidency race with 96.9 percent of votes", Egyptian Streets
5. "Lebanon TV host dances to popular Egypt election song", Al Arabya
6. "Sisi headed for big win in Egypt elections", Al Jazeera
7. "Profile: The many faces of Hamdeen Sabahi", Al Jazeera
8. "Putin on 'wasting terrorists in the outhouse': wrong rhetoric, right idea", RT
9. Talk: Vladimir Putin / Archive 1, Wikiquote