Cairo - Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour on Sunday urged Egyptians to vote in the country's upcoming presidential elections, adding that casting ballots is a crucial part of the democratic process.
“Democracy is a continuing process that cannot be reduced to bringing down tyrant regimes but should also evolve and mature through the people's free and responsible choice for who should be in power in this country,” Mansour said in a televised speech.
“Let us all go tomorrow and the day after to express our free choice. Let us choose, without being directed or dictated, whoever we trust in his ability to build and run the country,” Mansour added one day before the elections.
Mansour also stressed that Egypt's government institutions were impartial towards the two candidates. An estimated 53.9 million Egyptians are eligible to cast ballots in the two-day vote.
The election is a two-man race between former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy. Al-Sisi is expected to win the poll.
The vote marks the second presidential elections since the 2011 uprising that forced long-standing leader Hosny Mubarak out of power.
Mohammed Morsi became Egypt's first civilian, Islamist president in 2012. He was ousted a year later after mass protests against his rule.
Sapa-dpa