Middle East & Africa | Third time unlucky

Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi wins another stage-managed election in Egypt

But his voters are angry about a faltering economy and the war next door in Gaza

People celebrate the re-election of Egypt's incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Egypt
Photograph: Getty Images
|DUBAI

A POLITICIAN COULD not ask for a better outcome: to best three challengers with 89.6% of the vote and the highest turnout since the 1990s. In this case, it was literally what he asked for. The outcome was predetermined.

Explore more

More from Middle East & Africa

Sudanese refugees in Chad

America concludes genocide has been committed in Sudan—again

The move highlights the magnitude of Sudan’s civil war but does little to end it

An inside view of the empty Baabda Palace

Lebanon tries yet again to elect a new president

But it will not be easy to convince its corrupt politicians to reform


A man sits in front of a destroyed building in Daraya suburb on December 25, 2024 in Damascus, Syria

The West is making a muddle of its Syria sanctions

Outsiders should be much clearer about how and when they will be lifted


Alawites formed Syria’s elite. Now they are terrified

Fear of reprisal stalks the heartlands of the Assad regime

From inside an obliterated Gaza, gunfire not a ceasefire

In north Gaza the IDF is now facing “a bitter guerrilla war”

Mozambique’s opposition leader flies home into chaos

Will Venâncio Mondlane’s arrival on January 9th deepen or ease political crisis?