CAIRO: Supporters of Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Sunday that they have collected more than 12 million signatures from people urging him to run for a second four-year term, a mostly symbolic gesture as there is little doubt he will contest, and win, next year’s elections.
El-Sisi, elected in 2014, has yet to formally announce his candidacy.
He has said he will make his decision after gauging popular reaction to a “factsheet” of his achievements due to be publicized next month.
With his win in the 2018 vote an almost foregone conclusion, a large voter turnout would take on added significance, affirming El-Sisi’s candidacy as the people’s choice. His likely opponents — the list so far includes a prominent rights activist, a former prime minister and an opposition politician thrown out of parliament — are not expected to pose a serious challenge to him securing a second term.
Mohammed El-Garhy, the chief coordinator of the group that gathered the signatures, told a news conference on Sunday that “the supreme goal of our campaign is to safeguard the Egyptian state.”
He was alluding to the widespread conviction among El-Sisi’s supporters that his policies since 2013 have protected Egypt from the chaos and bloodshed seen in fellow Arab countries like Libya, Yemen or Syria.
The group has carried out a large-scale publicity campaign, with giant posters of the president looming over some of Cairo’s busiest roads.
The group is called “So You Can Build It (Egypt),” a play on the mega projects that El-Sisi has undertaken since assuming office.
These include the expansion of the Suez Canal, the construction of new cities, including a new administrative capital east of Cairo, a network of roads and low and middle-income housing projects.
The president has also introduced ambitious and politically risky economic reforms.
El-Sisi’s 3 1/2 years in office have also seen an uptick in terror attacks in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
On Saturday, El-Sisi repeated his vow that his military would use its “full range of violence” against the militants.
“We must, with God’s help end terrorism there (in Sinai),” he said on Saturday in a ceremony marking the end of new tunnels under the Suez Canal to link mainland Egypt to Sinai.
Last month, terrorists in Sinai killed more than 300 worshippers praying at a mosque. The president later gave the army and police a three-month deadline to “restore” security and stability in Sinai.
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry said police staged a pre-dawn raid on a Nile delta farm used by militants as a hideout, killing nine of them when they returned fire.
Separately, it said police also busted a cell of Brotherhood-linked militants in Cairo, the capital, arresting nine and seizing arms, explosives and written material linking members of the cell to a July terrorist attack in the Greater Cairo area.
12 million want El-Sisi to run for second term, say supporters
12 million want El-Sisi to run for second term, say supporters
Gulf countries offer support to Yemen’s legitimate government, Saudi security
- Qatar, Kuwait say their security is based on the security of Saudi Arabia and the GCC
- Bahrain said it had confidence in the leadership of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to contain differences
LONDON: Gulf and Arab countries on Tuesday offered support to the internationally recognized government in Yemen after the UAE withdrew its forces from the country.
The statements were issued after the military coalition supporting Yemen’s government carried out airstrikes on a shipment of weapons and vehicles destined for southern separatist forces.
The shipment arrived in the port of Mukalla on board two vessels from Fujairah in the UAE.
The Emirates was asked by Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s presidential council, to withdraw its troops from Yemen within 24 hours.
Saudi Arabia said the separatists, operating under the Southern Transitional Council and supported by the UAE, posed a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security and regional stability by recently seizing territory in the governorates of Hadramaut and Al-Mahra.
Qatar said it was following the developments “with keen interest.”
A foreign ministry statement said Doha fully supported the legitimate Yemeni government and stressed the importance of preserving Yemen's unity and safeguarding the interests of the Yemeni people.
It added that the security of Saudi Arabia and the security of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) “constitute an inseparable part of the security of the State of Qatar, reflecting the deep-rooted fraternal ties and shared destiny that unite the GCC states.”
The ministry commended the statements issued by Saudi Arabia and the UAE “which reflect a commitment to prioritizing the interests of the region.”
Kuwait also offered “unwavering support” for Yemen’s government and said the security of Saudi Arabia and GCC is the basis of its own national security.
Its foreign ministry praised the “responsible approach” taken by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Bahrain, the current GCC chair, said it had confidence in the leadership of Saudi Arabia and the UAE “and their ability to contain any differences in viewpoints within the framework of a unified Gulf.”
The foreign ministry statement offered “unequivocal” support toward regional and international initiatives and efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive and lasting political solution in Yemen.
Egypt said it had full confidence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE “to handle the current developments in Yemen with wisdom.”
Cairo will continue efforts toward a comprehensive political settlement for Yemen, the statement said.
