CAIRO: A political coalition including several high-profile Egyptians sharply criticized President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday for a speech in which he warned off anyone seeking to challenge his rule, amid growing calls for a boycott of presidential elections.
Earlier this week, Sisi said additional steps would be taken against anyone looking to upset Egypt’s security and warned that the protests of seven years ago, which toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011, would never happen again.
In a rare public rebuke of El-Sisi’s own remarks, the Civil Democratic Movement called the speech an attempt “to spread fear among Egyptian voters” which “undermines... the integrity of the electoral competition.”
Former military commander El-Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after leading the army to the ousting of hard-line President Mohammed Mursi. He is expected to easily win a vote slated for March 26-28.
The Civil Democratic Movement includes several notable figures, including a former presidential contender as well as Hesham Genena, a former anti-corruption watchdog head who had been campaigning for former military chief of staff Sami Anan, El-Sisi’s top opponent before he was arrested.
The statement follows growing calls to boycott the March vote after all major opposition campaigns withdrew citing intimidation. Anan himself was arrested and halted his presidential bid after the army accused him of breaking the law by running for office without permission.
El-Sisi now faces a single opponent, who is himself El-Sisi supporter, in the March contest.
“Clearing the political space of candidates in the name of preserving security is unconstitutional and does not promote security,” the statement said.
El-Sisi said in the speech that he may call on Egyptians to take to the streets to give him a “mandate” in the face of what he described as “villains,” without specifying who he meant.
“We affirm that states are not run by mandates and the mobilization of supporters in orchestrated gatherings, but rather by constitutions and respect for freedoms,” the statement said.
“Is this a mandate in order to uphold freedoms? Or to crush opposition? Or to violate the constitution?” it said.
Egypt opposition slams El-Sisi’s warning
Egypt opposition slams El-Sisi’s warning
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
