Sisi Warns against ‘Sedition’, Hints at a Second ‘Popular Mandate’

A supporter of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stands in the back of a pickup truck bearing his portrait and loudspeakers, in the capital Cairo's Tahrir square on January 25, 2018. MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned that he would resort to popular support in order to face “attempts to spread chaos and threaten security and stability” in Egypt.
 
Although he did not name the parties behind such attempts, he addressed “those who try to harm Egypt”, saying he would ask the Egyptians to resort again to the street “to give him mandate against the villains.”
 
“Listen, whoever wants to mess with Egypt and ruin it, has to do away with me first,” he stated.
 
Sisi also threatened to adopt “other measures against those who believe they can tamper with the security” of the country.
 
“What happened seven or eight years ago, will not happen again in Egypt,” the Egyptian president warned, in reference to mass protests in 2011 that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
 
“What didn’t work then, will not work now; No… it looks like you don’t know me well,” he said at the inauguration of the north African country’s major Zohr gas field.
 
Sisi’s remarks came amid criticism by some politicians to the Authority, after the withdrawal of the majority of candidates from the presidential race scheduled.
 
During a press conference on Sunday, political leaders including prominent leftist presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi called on citizens to boycott the elections set to be held in March and form a united national front for the opposition.
 
Sisi is expected to win the election, in which only the head of the “Ghad” (Tomorrow) Party, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, has decided to run in the last minute, following the withdrawal of all opposition candidates.
 
On a different note, Sisi said the demarcation of the maritime border with Cyprus and Greece contributed to the fast completion of the gas field project.
 
“We would not have been able to accomplish this project without the demarcation of the borders with Cyprus and Greece,” he said.