Show of support: Voters carry military boots, tailor army 'galabiya'

CAIRO – 28 March 2018: In an awkward scene on the third and final day of the Egyptian presidential election, an Egyptian citizen was seen carrying military boots on his head outside a polling station in Nasr City in Cairo.

The citizen clarified his strange act by saying: “It is an honor for me and any Egyptian who loves his country to carry the boots of the military on his head and kiss them.”

In another awkward scene at a different polling station, a citizen in Dakahlia governorate carried a military officer, expressing his pride in the role of the armed forces and police in protecting the country.


A citizen in Dakahlia governorate carried a military officer – Egypt Today/Mohamed Hiza

A man named Othman Abdel Salam in the Delta's Sharqia governorate tailored his own military style "galabiya" (a long, loose cloak traditionally worn by Egyptian men in rural areas) and wore it to polling station.


A Sharqia man tailored his own military style galabiya and wore it to polling stations on March 28, 2018 - Fathiya al-Deeb


A Sharqia man tailored his own military style galabiya and wore it to polling stations on March 28, 2018 - Fathiya al-Deeb

The scenes of Egyptians who carry officers and their boots on their head are not new in the 2018 presidential election. Many awkward scenes have also been seen in past elections.

Egyptians headed to the polls on Wednesday for the third and last day of the presidential election to cast their vote for their preferred candidate.

Alexandria, Cairo, Giza and North Sinai governorates have recorded the highest turnout so far, according to a statement by the Supreme Media Council late on Tuesday.

Although no official reports were released regarding the size of turnout so far, the participation of women and elderly has been remarkable in different governorates. Some governors said the turnout on the second day was higher than the first in their respective governorates.

Signs of joy were clear in highly crowded polling stations, where many voters sang national songs and danced outside schools serving as polling stations.

The 2018 presidential election is the third to take place in Egypt since the January 2011 revolution.