Tuesday saw the inauguration of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a third term in the nation’s new capital. This was the biggest of the mega-projects that have come to represent his administration and have put a strain on the nation’s budget.
Speaking at the recently constructed parliament building, Sisi outlined the difficulties Egypt has faced recently and pledged to continue the country’s progress, which many Egyptians claim they are left out of.
Sisi addressed lawmakers and representatives of the government, military, and religious establishment, saying, “The past few years have proven that the path of nation-building is not paved with roses… amid terrorist efforts at home, sudden global crises abroad, and fierce battles around us.”
With 89.6% of the vote and no credible opponents, Sisi easily won the election in December of last year.
While some voters responded favorably to his message of stability and security during the raging conflict in Gaza, many others, who were more concerned with their financial problems, expressed disinterest in the election and claimed that the outcome was inevitable.
Throughout the event, one participant said, “You carry a tremendous load!” while another countered, “If God is with you, then no one can be against you!”
After constitutional modifications that increased the duration of presidential terms to six years and gave Sisi the ability to run for office a third time, his term as president ends in 2030.
During his speech, Sisi pledged to raise funds for programs aimed at the impoverished and to involve the private sector, adhering to the pledges made in order to secure the $8 billion deal with the IMF last month.
Egypt has been undergoing an infrastructure boom led by the military since Sisi took office in 2014. He claims this is necessary for economic growth and to accommodate the country’s population, which has increased by 6 million since it reached 100 million four years ago.
The largest of the mega projects, which also include building a significant number of new roads, expanding the Suez Canal, and creating other new towns, is the $58 billion New Administrative Capital, which is located in the desert east of Cairo.
Opponents claim that these projects raise Egypt’s debt load and take funds away from other pressing requirements, which is what is causing the country’s economic problems.
Sisi vowed to rationalize public spending and invest in a number of areas, including energy, in his inauguration speech.
Ahmed Tantawy, a former presidential candidate from Egypt, said the address was ordinary in that it reiterated calls for a “new republic” while providing no substantive answers.
“We vehemently urge openness and honesty with the magnificent Egyptian people… who are grappling with indebtedness, impoverishment, and a rapidly declining human rights legacy,” Tantawy stated to Reuters.
The former left-leaning congressman, who had been the most well-liked contender in the previous election, canceled his campaign when he could not obtain the necessary quantity of public endorsements. He was convicted of falsifying electoral paperwork last month, fined, and prohibited from participating in any more elections.
Despite the fact that Egypt’s stability was endangered by economic issues, the Gaza crisis, in which it acted as the primary route for aid and an initiator of ceasefire talks,.
Sisi, a former intelligence general, rose to power a decade ago after deposing the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s only freely elected president.
Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of people, including liberal activists and Islamists, have been jailed since Mursi’s ouster.
Sisi and his supporters say that stability and security are paramount and that the state is working to safeguard social rights such as housing and jobs.
(Reuters)
