Knowing the end of the story makes sitting through it somewhat boring, and the Egyptian elections were no exception, even if the threats of violence, bullying, and outright fraud added a modicum of unpredictability to the inevitable outcome. In Egypt’s first contested presidential elections (previously the electorate could only vote for or against the candidate), Mubarak — who has already led Egypt for 24 years — won another six-year term with 88.6 percent of the votes. Ayman Nour of the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party trailed in with 7.6 percent of the vote and Numan Gumaa of the Wafd party crawled in with 2.9 percent.  Only 23 percent of the 32.5 million registered voters went to out the polls on Wednesday.

“This is a farce. I will appeal to get our rights back,” vowed Ayman Nour, amid allegations of fraud and intimidation on the part of the incumbent and his supporters. The electoral commission scoffed at Nour’s request.

Perhaps the only person to be surprised by the results was Ahmad al-Sabahi of the Umma Party who, at 90, forecast a landslide victory in which he seized 95 percent of the vote and had already requested that he be addressed as “Mr. President.” Included in al-Sabahi’s presidential platform was the promise that, if elected, he would force men to don the fez hat.    

Mimi Hanaoka