Egypt army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will run for president, report says
Egypt's army chief, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has finally confirmed his intention to run for Egypt's presidency, a Kuwaiti newspaper has claimed.
In an interview, Sisi was quoted as saying: "Yes, it has been decided, I have no choice but to meet the demands of the Egyptian people. I will not refuse this request."
Since Sisi overthrew the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, last July, there have been several campaigns calling on him to run for office, culminating in hundreds of thousands rallying in his name on the third anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising. His colleagues in the armed forces' governing council mandated him to run last Monday – and his popularity is so high among certain sections of the population that he is expected to win by a landslide.
But throughout all the hype, Sisi had not publicly confirmed his candidacy. That appeared to change in the
early hours of Thursday morning, when Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyasia published what they said was an interview with the man himself.
In the article, Sisi was quoted appealing to Egyptians for patience amid worsening economic and social conditions.
"I shall not refuse the request of the people of my country, but I will ask them to help," he reportedly said. "Egypt is ill, very ill. It's been getting worse in the last few years. People realise that it's a heavy burden and it requires everybody's cooperation to carry it. Therefore, we have to share this load and work to heal our country from its illness."
An army spokesman later claimed that the interview was inaccurate. He said Sisi had not yet declared his intentions, and would only do so in an Egyptian context, "in front of the sons of the great Egyptian people, in clear and direct words, leaving no room for doubt or interpretation".
Analysts consistently warn that while Sisi currently has the backing of many sections of society, the electorate has proved fickle in the recent past. They say Sisi risks losing popularity very quickly if he does not find prompt solutions to Egypt's many social problems.
Public sentiment is hard to quantify in Egypt. Over 98% of participants voted for Egypt's new constitution this month, a sign of strong support for Sisi.
But only 38.6% of those eligible to vote took part – a respectable figure in comparison with past votes, but lower than Sisi might have hoped.
For their part, Morsi supporters detest the field marshal for presiding over a campaign of oppression that has seen more than a thousand Morsi supporters killed, and thousands arrested. A Zogby poll from September suggested Egypt was roughly split on Sisi's decision to topple Morsi on 3 July last year, following days of mass protests.
Source: TheGuardian
