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Egypt's Sisi says he will step down as president if people rise against him
Egypt's Sisi says he will step down as president if people rise against him
(about 3 hours later)
Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Egypt's former military chief who is poised to win the presidency in elections later this month, has said he would improve people's living conditions within two years but would step down if they rose up against him, without waiting for the army to remove him.
Egypt's likely next leader, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, will resign from office if his presidency sparks mass protests, the former army chief has said.
Sisi was speaking to foreign media on Sunday in his first TV interview as a presidential candidate with the Emirates-based Sky News Arabia.
"If people go down to protest, I will say: I am at your service," Sisi said in an interview with Sky News Arabia aired late on Sunday. "I can't wait until the army asks me to [resign]."
Riding on a wave of nationalist fervour, the 59-year-old faces a single rival in the vote on 26-27 May.
Sisi has just one competitor in Egypt's presidential run-off, which culminates in a two-day poll on 26-27 May – a contest he is widely expected to win.
"Do you think I will wait for a third time? If people go down to protest, I will say, I am at your service," he said. "I can't wait until the army asks me to (step down), I can't be like this. I fear for my country. I fear for the people."
His remarks echo those of the man he ousted from Egypt's presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi. On his election in June 2012, Morsi similarly promised to step down if the masses rose against him, before refusing to resign when millions did fill the streets a year later – a decision that prompted Sisi to force him from office.
Sisi, who retired in March to run for office, was a career military officer and is unlikely to be at odds with the armed forces, which have provided all of Egypt's presidents since 1952 with the exception of ousted Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. He was head of military intelligence when the uprising against Hosni Mubarak erupted in 2011 and was promoted to defence minister by Morsi.
Sisi's comments appear at odds with other recent statements, in which he defended a controversial new law that several rights groups say severely curbs the freedom of assembly. Demonstrations put off tourists and harm the country's recovery, Sisi has argued. "The right to protest is guaranteed for all but we will not let the country be destroyed."
In Sunday's interview, Sisi repeated his criticism of Morsi's term in office and the Brotherhood's rise to power, saying the group maintained a parallel leadership and was concerned about amassing power and not solving the country's problems. He said it would have to reassess its ideology, having lost the trust of Egyptians. "It is their problem, not mine. They need to re-evaluate themselves," he said, accusing the Brotherhood of turning a political problem into a religious war.
On Sunday, Sisi also stressed that he would not seek reconciliation with the Brotherhood, reiterating comments he made in a previous interview last week, in which he said: "There will be nothing called the Muslim Brotherhood during my tenure." A week on, Sisi repeated that the Brotherhood had tarnished Islam and "need to reevaluate themselves".
He said he would not allow a religious leadership, as he said the Brotherhood tried to present itself, to exist in parallel to the state and its religious institutions.
Sisi believes religion has a role to play in public life but argues that the Brotherhood sought to undermine the Egyptian state by establishing an alternative religious power base, and criticises it for doing so.
"It is not an animosity, it is not revenge between me and them," he said.
Sisi's only rival for the presidency, the leftist and long-time secular dissident Hamdeen Sabahi, has also said his victory would close the door on the Brotherhood. But in other major policy areas, Sabahi has set himself up in opposition to the former army leader – presenting himself as the candidate of the revolution and promising, for example, to repeal the controversial protest law.
The Egyptian government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist group, accusing it of orchestrating a violent campaign to destabilise the country. The group denies it adopts violent means and accuses the government of seeking to smear its name.
According to a recent survey by the Cairo-based polling centre Baseera, 72% of those who intend to vote say they will back Sisi, with 2% supporting Sabahi – though online polling suggests the gap has since narrowed following interviews with both candidates in the past week.
Thousands of Morsi supporters and leading figures in his Brotherhood are behind bars on charges varying from holding illegal protests to inciting and carrying out violent attacks and cooperating with foreign militant groups. More than 1,300 of its supporters were killed in a security crackdown on protests.
Sisi said he had plans to make improvements in people's living conditions within two years, but said he plans to be frank with Egyptians about the extent of their problems. "We say if things go according to our planning, they will see improvements within two years," he said.
Sisi refused to comment on mass trials and sentences against Brotherhood members, including a death sentence already issued against the group's leader, Mohammed Badie, on charges he instigated violence. He said the courts were independent and the law must be respected.
Prosecutors on Sunday said seven alleged Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to life in prison for blocking a highway and damaging a security post outside Cairo last summer after security forces violently broke up sit-ins supporting Morsi.
Another court on Sunday sentenced 36 students from an Islamic university in Cairo to four years in jail for taking part in a December protest against Morsi's overthrow.
The crackdown has widened to include secular and non-Islamist critics of the current interim government's campaign to quell dissent, including issuing a draconian protest law that bans all political gatherings and protests without prior permission and imposes heavy fines and jail times for violators.
Sisi defended the law and repeated his concern for improving security and fighting terrorism, saying police must be given the chance to combat militants and not be distracted with protests. "We want to give the police the chance to work with its current capabilities in better circumstances," he said.
The turmoil in Egypt has also included violent attacks against security forces and the military, most claimed by militant groups who say they are avenging the authorities' crackdown on Islamists and protesters. The government says more than 400 police officers and military troops have been killed during the violence.
On Sunday, security officials said suspected militants attacked an army convoy in the Sinai peninsula, killing one soldier and wounding another.
Sisi said he planned to be frank with Egyptians about the extent of their problems, hoping they would lower their expectations and back him to solve the country's challenging economic and security problems.
"We say if things go according to our planning, they will see improvements within two years." Sisi said increasing poverty, rising internal and external debts and an energy crunch were the country's most pressing economic problems.
"On my own, I can't solve the problem," he stressed.
