Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be sworn in for a third term during a ceremony in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) on Tuesday.
He will take the oath of office at parliament at its new building in the capital, where construction began in 2015.
An Egyptian security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sisi will arrive at the new capital on Tuesday where he will hold a short meeting with the parliament speaker and other officials from the legislature before the ceremony.
Sisi was elected to a new term in December, winning 89.6% of the vote. Around 39.7 million Egyptians voted in the elections.
Sisi’s new six-year term will officially begin on April 3.
He was first elected president for four years in 2014. After a constitutional amendment, the presidential term was extended to six.
Managing Director and Board Chairman of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) Company Khaled Abbas said holding the swearing in ceremony in the new capital will inaugurate the first phase of NAC.
In televised remarks on Saturday, he said state affairs will be managed from the new capital in the coming phase.
Sisi’s inauguration will be a celebration for the whole of Egypt, he added. The new capital is more than ready to hold the ceremony and other major events.
The new capital aims to ease pressure off Cairo. It covers 700 square kilometers and construction is being carried out over three phases. The first covers 168 kms, or around half the size of Cairo.
On whether the parliament will officially move its operations to the new capital, a parliamentary source said it is likely to keep its old headquarters in central Cairo.
He noted that the president will continue to use the Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo for official receptions, while the parliament may partially move its operations to the new capital.
Political science professor at Cairo University Dr. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayed told Asharq Al-Awsat that complete shift of state management to the new capital depends on the president and whether he will relocate there.
Some ministries and government agencies have already kicked off their operations there, he revealed.
