Egypt's President El-Sisi praises progress and achievements in his first address to Parliament

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi delivers his speech
in front of the Parliament
(Image: US News)

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi delivered his first official speech before the 596 members of the newly elected and recently convened Egyptian Parliament on Saturday, 13 February. The ceremony was attended by all the members of Egypt's Parliament, House of Representatives, and also by numerous important guests including members of the Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, members of the governments of other Arab states, foreign officials and diplomats and religious figures.

In his first speech addressed to the Parliament Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was talking about the achievements and challenges of Egypt, about the social, economic and security issues of Egyptian policies and about the regional issues as well.

Mr. El-Sisi listed the achievements of Egypt under his rule and praised the developments since his inauguration as a President and also listed the challenges the country currently faces.

The President began his speech by announcing that he officially transfers the legislative power in the country to the Parliament, declaring the end of the four-year legislative hiatus, when all the law-making authority and responsibility were with the President, as the previous Parliament was dissolved and the new one was elected only this year.

Among the achievements of his office El-Sisi listed the numerous security and anti-terrorist operations launched in Northern Sinai and in other regions of Egypt as well and stated that the country managed to eliminate terrorist threats in Sinai and Nile Delta significantly, although the process of eliminating the terrorist activities and restoring security and safety in the country is still ongoing.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi delivers his speech in front
of the Parliament
(Image: Times of Israel)

Egyptian President also highlighted the state projects regarding economical development of the country and increasing the national GDP, mostly by attracting more foreign investments and creating the new jobs for the Egyptian citizens. Thus, El-Sisi praised the New Suez Canal project and stated that the project will continue to be developed, as there are numerous new projects in the area including the infrastructure and developments projects being under construction currently. Those projects would bring new investments and economic growth to Egypt and have already helped to create nearly a million of new jobs, what is extremely important for the country with the high unemployment rate.

In addition to that Egypt continues developing new housing projects including the projects aimed at decreasing the density of population in the Nile Delta and along the Nile River and constructing the new cities to accommodate and to give jobs to millions of Egyptians. The country also works on the road development and construction projects and improving the electricity network in the country, what could help to reduce power cuts and deficits in Egypt.

Among the achievements of the country under his rule El-Sisi also mentioned the upcoming construction of the new nuclear power plant to be built in cooperation with Russia. Construction of this new power plant called the Dabaa project is expected to start within the next weeks, stated the President.

Speaking about the role of Egypt on the international arena, Mr. El-Sisi said that Egypt finally regained its important regional and international role. He mentioned specifically Egypt's non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council what could be used for promoting peace and security in Egypt and in the region as well. In addition to that the President mentioned the important role of Egypt in the regional peace talks and efforts to end the military conflicts including Syria, Libya and Yemen and meditating in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations as well.

Meanwhile, the President also stated that the country still faces many challenges, including the pressuring issues of education system and its reforms, health sector, the media, renewing religious discourse in the country, economic issues and the security threats still existing within the country and in the region as well. The President hopes that these issues will become the top agenda for the newly elected Parliament.

"Let's build a strong and youthful country!" the President declared in his speech and stated that under the current circumstances "hope is inevitable and a national duty". The speech of the Mr. El-Sisi was met enthusiastically, with the huge applause and cries of "Tahya Masr!" ("Long live Egypt!").