Egypt’s Sisi begins third term promising to increase investment, social spending

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi was sworn in for his third term in the country’s new capital on Tuesday, the largest of the mega-projects that have symbolized his rule while expanding the country’s financial.

Speaking at the new parliament building, Sisi highlighted the challenges Egypt has faced in recent years while promising continued development, but many Egyptians said they felt left out.

“The past few years have shown that the road to nation-building is not paved with roses… attempts at terrorism at home, sudden global crises abroad, raging wars all around us,” Sisi told lawmakers and religious, government and military officials. .”

Sisi won the December election with 89.6% of the vote without any serious challengers.

As the war in neighboring Gaza intensifies, his message of stability and security has resonated with some voters, but many voters focused on economic hardship have expressed indifference to the election, saying the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

“The burden you carry is heavy!” one attendee shouted during the ceremony, with another chiming in: “If God is with you, no one can be against you!”

Sisi will be in office until 2030, with a constitutional amendment extending the presidential term to six years and allowing him to stand for a third election.

In his speech, Sisi pledged to increase spending on projects that target the poor and engage the private sector, in line with commitments in an $8 billion expansion agreement with the International Monetary Fund last month.

Since Sisi became president in 2014, Egypt has embarked on a military-led infrastructure drive that he says is crucial to economic development and accommodating a population that has grown by 6 million since hitting the 100 million mark four years ago.

The new $58 billion administrative capital in the desert east of Cairo is the largest major project, which also includes the expansion of the Suez Canal, extensive road construction and other new cities.

Critics blame the projects for exacerbating Egypt’s economic woes, saying they divert resources away from more pressing needs and increase Egypt’s debt burden.

In his inauguration speech, Sisi pledged to invest in a number of sectors, including energy, as well as rationalize public spending and commit to continuing to build new cities.

Former Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi said the speech typically repeated the promises of a “new republic” without offering real solutions.

“We strongly demand transparency and candor for the great people of Egypt… who are struggling with debt, poverty and worsening human rights,” Tantawi told Reuters.

The former left-wing lawmaker emerged as the most popular challenger in last year’s election, ending his campaign after failing to muster the required amount of public support. Last month, he was found guilty of forging electoral documents and ordered to pay a fine and banned from running in the upcoming election.

Although economic problems threaten Egypt’s stability, its global position has been strengthened by the Gaza crisis, with Egypt becoming a major channel for aid and an initiator of ceasefire negotiations.

Sisi is a former intelligence minister who came to power a decade ago after deposing Egypt’s only freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Human rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of people, including liberal activists and Islamists, have been imprisoned since Morsi’s ouster.

Sisi and his supporters say stability and security are crucial and the country is working to guarantee social rights such as housing and employment.