General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt’s armed forces chief and minister of defence, is the winner of TIME’s 2013 Person of the Year poll, the magazine announced on Thursday.
According to the American magazine, El-Sisi won 26.2 percent of the total votes, beating Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and American pop star Miley Cyrus, who were also popular with readers.
El-Sisi’s popularity soared in Egypt after he appeared on national television on 3 July and announced the removal of president Mohamed Morsi, following days of protests against the elected president’s rule.
Morsi was also a candidate in the poll in 2012.
TIME’s Person of the Year is chosen by the magazine’s editors and will be announced on Wednesday 11 December.