Egyptian presidential candidate and former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday called for a large turnout in next month’s presidential election even as Islamists called for a boycott.

Al-Sisi asked voters to come to the poll in “unprecedented numbers for the sake of Egypt,” Reuters reports.

Al-Sisi, who helped depose Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi during mass protests last July, faces just one opponent in the election to be held May 26 and 27. Hailed by his supporters as a strong figure who can rescue Egypt from crisis after a tumultuous and bloody revolution, al-Sisi is widely expected to win the election.

An alliance of Islamist parties has denounced last year’s bloody takeover as a coup, and it has called the upcoming election a “farce.” The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy also said it would not recognize election monitoring planned by “Western supporters of the coup,” apparently referring to a planned E.U. observation mission.

[Reuters]

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