Sabahy admits defeat in Egypt presidential election

Egypt's presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy Thursday admitted his defeat in the elections that concluded Wednesday, losing to his sole rival, former military chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

"I admit losing the presidential race," Xinhua quoted Sabahy as saying in a press conference Thursday.

"We show respect for the will of the people," Sabahy added.

Sabahy said there were some violations during the vote but they would not affect the final result.

"I will not accept any official post in the executive authority," the leftist leader said, noting that he will join the opposition as "partners of the nation".

He also lamented that "the same result could be reached without violations", referring to what he described as biased media, businessmen and state-run institutions.

According to an earlier report, the initial poll count pointed to a landslide victory for Egypt's former military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the three-day presidential polls.

Sisi won about 95 percent of the ballots collected from nearly half of the polling stations.

Sisi had already received more than 10.5 million votes, while his sole rival, Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy received about 350,000.

Sisi's supporters had begun celebrating in Cairo, with hundreds of them gathering at the historic Tahrir square.

Initial estimates put the turnout at about 47 percent out of the 54 million eligible voters.