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Sabahi campaign urges Egypt youth to back him on final polling day

Hamdeen Sabahi

The official campaign of presidential contender Hamdeen Sabahi urged young people to back him on Tuesday, saying the leftist politician has a genuine chance of beating former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi as Egypt's presidential election draws to a close.

"Sabahi remains in serious contention to win the elections," the campaign said in a statement late on Monday after voting had ended in the first of a two-day election process.

"We hope the youth will turn out in large numbers on Tuesday to settle the election battle in the favour of Sabahi. We fully believe that their votes will be the decisive factor in determining the winner."

Turnout of young people, who were at the forefront of the 18-day uprising that toppled autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, seemed to be low on Monday, with voting queues dominated by the middle aged and the elderly.

Some of the youth activists who spearheaded the 2011 revolution have said they will back Sabahi, while others have opted to boycott the elections in protest at interim authorities and what they argue is increasing political repression.