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| Egypt's recently resigned Head of the Armed Forces and current presidential candidate Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi (Image: Reuters) |
Amid the continuous unstable security and economical situation Egypt’s High
Electoral Committee has announced the beginning of the presidential campaign to
start since 30 March, as the potential candidates for the presidential position
have the chance to register their candidacies in order to participate in the
elections. Thus, official registration was announced opened, and the elections
are set for 26-27 May. Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour has declared
earlier that the new President is expected to be announced before 17 July 2014.
Egyptian Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi is one of the strongest and
most popular candidates for the position of Egypt’s President, widely supported
by Egyptian society. He was appointed by Mohamed Morsi as a Defense Minister
and Head of SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) in August 2012, succeeding
Mohamed Hussein Tantawy. El-Sissi has got an unprecedented level of popularity
after ouster of Islamist backed President Mohamed Morsi during the 30 June
Revolution, and despite the deteriorating security situation and economic
challenges Egypt has been facing during all this time, El-Sissi’s public
ratings have been increasing.
After long time of speculations in media and society regarding the
possibility of his running for the position of Egypt’s President, Abdel-Fattah
El-Sissi has finally submitted his candidacy to the High Electoral Commission,
ending the wave of rumors and responding the popular demand.
On Wednesday 26 March Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi has officially
resigned from his position as a Defense Minister and Head of Egypt’s Armed
Forces, as police and military officials and personnel aren’t allowed to run
for the high official positions according to the state’s Constitution.
It’s worth mentioning, that SCAF has declared its total support of
El-Sissi and has issued a statement on January 2014 empowering El-Sissi to run
for President. Prominent Egyptian political figure Amr Moussa has been also
talking about El-Sissi’s intentions to run for President and about his presidential
campaign. He also stated that the main goal of El-Sissi’s program is
development of the country’s economic and social conditions, restoring of
security and achieving the goals of January 25 Revolution. Amr Moussa also
stated that special team consisting form the prominent and known politicians
and experts has been already formed in order to discuss the presidential platform
of the former Head of the Armed Forces.
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| Supporters of General El-Sissi during the demonstration (Image: The Guardian) |
Thus, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi has officially submitted his
resignation from the position of Defense Minister during the meeting with the
SCAF and interim President Adly Mansour. SCAF’s Chief of Staff Sedki Sobhy was
appointed as a new Defense Minister and Head of Egypt’s Armed Forces, becoming
El-Sissi’s successor.
Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi in his turn has delivered a speech declaring his
resignation from the highest military position and intention to run for President
on 26 March. He stated in his speech, broadcasted by the state TV, that he was
serving Egypt’s military for over 45 years, but after leaving his military
position he is willing to continue defending the country and serving its people.
“The latest years and development proved, that no one could be President
of Egypt without people’s will,” El-Sissi declared during his official speech.
In addition to that El-Sissi declared that his running for President
shouldn’t bar anybody else from participating in the presidential elections,
and that he will welcome and support the one, who will be the winner. El-Sissi
also emphasized that he doesn’t have a traditional presidential electoral
campaign, but rather a vision of Egypt’s future and development, and stressed
that he is determined to fight for the fearless Egypt, trying to resolve Egypt’s
political, social, economic and security problems and challenges, which Egypt
has faced after 25 January 2011 Revolution and 30 June 2013 uprising. He also
called on the other candidates to avoid spending too much money on the
presidential campaign.
Thus, Egypt’s presidential campaign has officially started in Egypt on
30 March, as the registration for the candidates was declared to be open. Egypt’s
Nasserist politician and ex-presidential contender Hamdeen Sabbahi is also
running for President and he could be considered being the main rival of
El-Sissi.
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| General Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi and Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour (Image: The Middle East Monitor) |
However, Islamists’ supporters and members of the Alliance of Support of
Legitimacy have declared that they will probably boycott the upcoming presidential
elections, as they see the current developments in the country as a
continuation of the illegal policies and results of the coup attempted by the
military heads in June 2013, ousting the legitimate President Mohamed Morsi. It’s
worth mentioning that the members of Muslim Brotherhood, which is currently
oppressed and persecuted in Egypt, its activities banned, ideology declared
extremist, and the group is labeled as a terrorist organization, with hundreds
of its members and prominent figures facing the trials, has been opposing all
the developments of Egypt’s post-30 June politics, claiming it to be
illegitimate. There is no official and final statement of the Alliance and
Muslim Brotherhood’s supporters yet, and the decision will be taken and
declared in the nearest future.
The situation in the country though remains extremely tense, with the
continuous clashes and students’, trade unions’ and worker’s protests and
significant deterioration of the economic and security situation, as the
violent clashes continue during the protest. In addition to that, Egypt’s
capital Cairo was hit by the three explosions occurred on the territory of
Cairo University.
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