The African Union also deployed a 40 man observer mission to Egypt to observe the presidential election. CGTN's Yasser Hakim caught up with the head of the AU observer mission Abdoulaye Diop, who is also the former foreign minister of Mali, for his views on the vote.

SUPER ABDOULAYE DIOP, HEAD, AU OBSERVER MISSION "One have to keep in mind the elections are taking place in a particular context. Political context because we had a militant insurgency in the country and also emergency law so we have to look at it from this perspective. The election took place in a peaceful and safe environment in spite of these challenges. So the government and security of Egypt have done a lot. The way if election process took place, the procedures., orientation, voters and efficiency. With all these elements, the election has been taking place with transparency and credible manner."

YASSER HAKIM, CAIRO, EGYPT "The AU has monitored the 2014 elections and you are back here in 2018. What recommendations have you presented and what was the feedback now?"

SUPER ABDOULAYE DIOP, HEAD, AU OBSERVER MISSION "In 2014 when African union observes the elections in Egypt we made recommendations that we had three different bodies to oversee the election. Process. It's good for Egypt to have one single body. Today this is a reality the national Election authority is in place because of our recommendation. We want to thanks the Egyptian government which has accepted to include and adopt this recommendation."