EVEN before the presidential elections began in Egypt, it was a forgone conclusion the incumbent Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi would win handily. El-Sisi simply had too much name recognition, had pretty much tamed terrorism in Cairo and other big cities and had prevented a wholesale collapse of the country as is being experienced by other states in the region. His sole rival in the campaign, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, head of the inconsequential Al-Ghad Party and a relative unknown before and even after the vote, never stood a chance.

Voting results bear out what was El-Sisi’s anticipated dominance. With most votes tallied, all preliminary indicators show El-Sisi won by a landslide, taking over 90 percent of the vote, while the voter turnout is expected to be over 40 percent of eligible voters. That’s around 25 million out of 59 million eligible voters.

Turnout was 47 percent at the last election in 2014 when El-Sisi won 97 percent of the vote. This time around, the drop, too, was expected. Four years ago, El-Sisi’s popularity was sky-high. He had slain the disdained and dangerous Muslim Brotherhood, uprooting them from government and parliament, starting with the presidency.

This year, since El-Sisi’s re-election to a second four-year term was never in doubt, the next big question was how many people would actually turn out to vote, for that would be an important measure of his mandate.

A big turnout was imperative for El-Sisi because a mandate becomes important when a president embarks on unpopular decisions, and El-Sisi has had to take many tough economic measures in his first four years in office. He freed the price of the Egyptian pound versus foreign currencies which consequently increased the price of fuel and electricity, and imposed new taxes. The restructuring added to the economic hardships which millions of Egyptians have had to contend with. It is small solace to Egyptians when they are told such austerity measures were inevitable, had been delayed by previous administrations for years for fear of a popular backlash, but now had to be taken in order to restart the economy after chaotic years following the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 and the popular revolt against the Muslim Brotherhood’s short, one year in office in 2013.

However, considerable progress has been made in increasing economic growth rates, attracting foreign direct investment and developing infrastructure. Cairo has also broadened and strengthened foreign relations with numerous countries while sustaining a tough and unrelenting stance against Islamist trends. Launching Operation Sinai 2018 a few weeks before Egyptians headed to the polls was a clear message that the fight will go on to keep Egyptians safe in a very volatile region.

Still, much needs to be done. Egyptians badly need more investments in education, health care, finding jobs and improving incomes and living conditions.

Therefore, what the majority of Egyptians hope for is that the next four years will witness more achievements on the ground in terms of economic reform and improving infrastructure, and that they benefit from what has been achieved.

It was no surprise whatsoever that El-Sisi bulldozed over his electoral opponent. Moussa received only three percent of the vote; if it can be believed, that was two percent less than the invalid votes.

Figuratively speaking, those who believe that El-Sisi was unchallenged in the election are mistaken. He is challenged — by Islamist extremism, by corruption, bureaucracy, administrative leniency, and a still lagging economy.

Any president always needs to think of the future and plan ahead, but all presidents, El-Sisi included, must also empathize with their people. Egyptians want to believe that their patience and sacrifice have borne fruit, that the years of protests, demonstrations and upheaval of the Arab Spring are behind them and that some improvement in their lives will start right now.