Pro-military fervour at polls as Egyptians vote

Supporters of retired Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi danced to pop tunes praising the military and sported T-shirts bearing his image as they cast ballots today in a presidential election that is considered certain to vault the former military chief to office.
El-Sissi, who last summer ousted Egypt's first freely elected president, is likely to win the two-day vote by a landslide.
But he is looking for a strong turnout to show international critics that his removal of Islamist Mohammed Morsi reflected the will of the people.
The election is a powerful contrast to 2012 presidential elections, which were the first after the toppling of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak by a popular uprising the year before.

In that race, there were 13 candidates and a rollicking campaign that saw lively debate over how to achieve the ideals of the "revolution." Morsi, a veteran figure from the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, won in part because even many who distrusted the Islamists preferred him to his opponent -- Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq -- seen as a throwback to the former state.
This time, the Brotherhood is out of the race, crushed under a ferocious crackdown that has killed hundreds of Morsi's supporters and arrested thousands more since his removal.

El-Sissi has been elevated by a surge of nationalism fed by media lauding him as the nation's Savior. His only opponent in the race is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who finished third in the 2012 election.

And all that most voters want is stability and an end to years of turmoil, despite worries among critics that the 59-year-old el-Sissi will bring it by suppressing dissent.
"He is a military strict man. He will grip the country and bring security to the street," said Olfat Sayed Hasanein, a university professor who voted for el-Sissi. "We cannot afford any more failures."
El-Sissi, wearing a suit and tie, cast his vote at a school in the upscale Cairo district of Heliopolis, as women cheered and ululated to greet him. "The whole world is watching to see how the Egyptians will make history," he told reporters.

At many polling stations, voters waved Egyptian flags and wore clothes in the national red-white-and-black colours. Men and women danced to pro-military pop songs, "Bless the Hands" and "A Good Omen," which emerged after the July 3 military ouster and have been constantly played in the streets and on the radio since.