General Sisi wants to be top pharaoh

Crescent International

Rabi' al-Thani 06, 1435 2014-02-06

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

he brutes in uniform are never content with their own job. They want the top spot in the country not because they are capable but because they have the guns and can terrorize people. Those that dare oppose them end up in jail or at the end of a rope. General (Field Marshal) Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the arch zionist, has just confirmed he will seek the presidency. No one is surprised although the military council said he was misquoted.

Cairo, Crescent-online
Wednesday February 05, 2014, 19:18 EST

With a tailor-made constitution safely tucked under his arm, General, sorry Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced he wants the top spot in Egypt. He confirmed this in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah that he plans to run for president. The following day, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), tried to backtrack by saying it was a journalistic statement and not “official.” On January 27, SCAF had given its blessings to Sisi to seek the presidency so why the hesitation now?

Sisi said: “The decision has been made [to run for president], and I have to succumb to the people's demand of running for the republic's presidency.”

Who made the decision: el-Sisi, SCAF or the people? Where is the proof of “people’s demand”? There were a few contrived rallies in support of Sisi but the turnout was pathetically low. Opponents of Sisi were clubbed, arrested and thrown in prison many of them still languishing there.

Sisi’s public confirmation came two weeks after a stage-managed referendum on a new constitution that was tailor-made for the general. The regime alleged a yes vote of 98.6 percent in a turnout of 38.9 percent. The former dictator Hosni Mubarak would be pleased. He also regularly claimed 99 percent support for his numerous “presidential” bids in which he was the sole candidate.

Sisi claimed on numerous occasions that if the people wanted him to run, he would defer to their decision.

“I say it with all sincerity: God knows that I carry the burden of this trust, and I am all hopes that the achievements will match [their] dreams. It is no secret that people's aspirations and wishes have become massive after the recent disappointment,” he said in an interview with Al-Seyassah that will hit newsstands tomorrow.

Since the military coup of July 3, 2013 that overthrew the first ever democratically elected government in Egyptian history, Sisi repeatedly eschewed any desire for public office. He was appointed defence minister and head of the armed forces by President Mohamed Mursi in August 2012 whom he deposed in last August.

In less than a year, Sisi had bitten the hand that had fed him. This, however, is the nature of all dictators in the Muslim world.

Sisi was elevated to the rank of field marshal by his handpicked interim president, Adly Mansour. The latter also had to show loyalty to the real power in Egypt.

Mansour was even more accommodating. On January 26, he issued a decree stating that presidential elections would be held before parliamentary elections reversing an earlier roadmap for “restoring democracy.” Parliamentary elections will now be held after Sisi is safely lodged in the presidential palace.

Mansour stipulated that presidential elections would be held between mid-February and no later than April 18. This month is too soon; April looks like the most likely date for an exercise that will be a mere ritual since no serious contender can dare challenge Sisi. In any case, the military-installed regime and the thugs that control the interior ministry will ensure “approval” for Sisi regardless who stands against him.

Egypt’s new pharaoh is about to come in his own element. Long live military dictatorship!

END