Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has announced that he has resigned as Egypt's military chief in order to stand for the presidency. He made the widely expected announcement on state television. The field marshal led the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in July of 2013 following mass opposition protests. Correspondents say he is likely to win the presidential poll, given his popularity and the lack of any serious rivals.Rico says that's hardly a rush to judgement...
In his address, Sisi told Egyptians he was "appearing in front of you for the last time in military uniform" before warning that the country was "threatened by terrorists" and saying he would work to make an Egypt "free of fear". He also promised to tackle the country's growing economic problems, but said he could not "perform miracles" and called on Egyptians to work hard to improve their country.
Fifty-nine-year-old Sisi, who said he first wore military uniform as a fifteen-year-old cadet in 1970, said he had "humbly" decided to bow to the will of the people. Sounding a similar note earlier this month, he was quoted by state media saying he could "not turn his back on calls by the majority of Egyptians" for him to run for president.
Sisi's supporters see him as a saviour who can end the political turmoil dogging Egypt since a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's three decades of one-man rule in 2011.
Tens of thousands of his supporters have taken to the streets to urge him to stand.
Military crackdown If he becomes president, he will be the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military, a line only briefly broken during Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's year in office.
His opponents hold him responsible for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, and fear that he wants a return to authoritarianism. The starting date of the nomination process for the presidential election will reportedly be announced on Sunday, after which no changes may be made to the electoral roll.
The government has yet to set a date for the vote, although earlier this month al-Ahram cited interim President Adly Mansour as saying that it would be completed by 17 July 2014.
Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came in third in the 2012 election, is the only other candidate to have declared his intention to run.
General Sedki Sobhi, the current chief-of-staff of the armed forces, is expected to be named the new commander-in-chief and defense minister.
Field Marshal Sisi, a 59-year-old former military intelligence chief, was appointed to the two posts by Morsi in August of 2012. But, after mass protests demanding Morsi's resignation took place on the first anniversary of his taking office, it was the field marshal who gave the president an ultimatum that he would have to satisfy the public's demands or see the army step in.
When Morsi refused, Field Marshal Sisi suspended the constitution and announced the formation of a technocratic interim government. Since then, more than a thousand people have been killed and thousands of members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood have been detained in a crackdown by the interim authorities, who have designated the Islamist movement a terrorist group.
Morsi and many other senior Brotherhood leaders are currently being tried on a variety of charges, including incitement to murder and conspiring to commit terrorist acts.
Recently, there was widespread international condemnation after a court in the central city of Minya sentenced to death 528 Morsi supporters in connection with an attack on a police station in August of 2013. The verdict was delivered on only the second day of the trial.
26 March 2014
Stepping down to move up
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