Cairo: In his long-awaited launch of a presidential bid, Egypt’s military strongman Abdul Fattah Al Sissi appeared keen to mix pragmatism and emotions, according to analysts and politicians.
“His address was realistic as he did not dish out promises, but referred to the country’s huge problems,” said Amr Hashem, an expert at the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies.
Al Sissi, who led the army’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in July last year, told Egyptians in a televised address Wednesday that the country is facing “big and formidable challenges”, urging his compatriots to join hands to “make the future.”
“I do not promises to do miracles, but I promise to present hard work and self-denial without limit,” Al Sissi, wearing military fatigures, said in the recorded address. “If If get the honour of leading [the country], I promise that we together will achieve stability and security for Egypt.”
Al Sissi, who resigned as defence minister to run for presidency, has been widely popular with many Egyptians since Mursi’s ouster following enormous street protests against the Islamist leader’s troubled one-year rule.
Al Sissi, 59, is expected to win the polls, likely to be held in May.
His supporters see him as able to re-establish security and re-invigorate the economy, which have deteriorated since a 2011 uprising unseated long-standing president Hosni Mubarak, who is also an ex-army officer.
Al Sissi’s secular detractors, however, question his commitment to democracy.
“There will be no large number of candidates in the coming election because Al Sissi enjoys massive popularity,” said Hashem.
The only other Egyptian to have announced a presidential bid so far is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 polls won by Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In his Wednesday’s address, Al Sissi vowed to continue “fighting terrorism”. The military-backed authorities have pursued an inexorable clampdown on Mursi’s backers and Islamist insurgents blamed for a series of recent attacks against security forces and facilities.
“True, today is my last day wearing the military uniform, but I will continue every day to fight for having Egypt free of fear and terrorism,” Al Sissi added in his address, delivered mostly in colloquial Arabic.
“His talk was not rosy. It was frank,” said Nabeel Zaki, the spokesman for the leftist Al Tajamuh (Unionist) Party that backs Al Sissi’s run for presidency. “Al Sissi has pledged to build a modern country and criticised Egypt’s reliance on foreign aid although the country is rich in human and natural resources. This is a good start.”
Mursi’s Brotherhood has, meanwhile, condemned Al Sissi’s presidential run. “It is tantamount to an unabashed recognition of his plot to remove the elected president Mohammad Mursi and cancel the popular will,” the now-outlawed group said in an online statement.
The Brotherhood has been holding almost daily street protests since Mursi’s toppling. The numbers of participants have dwindled in recent weeks apparently due to mass detention of the group’s followers.
In December, the Egyptian government designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, a label that could carry the death penalty.
