RETIRED general Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi emerged victorious from Egypt’s presidential election today, but a voter turnout of just 46 per cent indicated a level of public disquiet.

Interim President Adly Mansour said that preliminary tallies showed that 25 million had people cast their ballots in the three-day vote, which he said had been free of “any serious misconduct.”

Mr Sissi received 23.38 million votes against 736,268 for veteran left Nasserite politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

Mr Mansour said that the vote showed “broad consensus for the roadmap” for political transition announced after the removal of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July.

Following the closure of the polls on Wednesday night, Sissi supporters held all-night celebrations in Cairo, with several thousands gathered at the central Tahrir Square.

There were similar celebrations in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and a string of other cities north of the capital and in the oasis province of Fayoum south-west of Cairo.