Will Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announce that he will run for the presidency following the completion of the presidential election law? And why was the law delayed? I assume the delay was due to some details that had to be taken care of. After the electoral law is finalised the Presidential Electoral Committee will open the door for elections within days. Al-Sisi is expected to announce his resignation [from the army] and candidacy soon after this. I expect it will probably be in the next 10 days. I certainly feel it is taking too much time but I think things will fall into place in the next few days. Is there a possibility Al-Sisi will not run? Field Marshal Al-Sisi told me he is going to run and this is what I said on record. I was not speaking on anyone's behalf, I was sharing the information with an anxious public. I don't think there is any possibility he will change his mind. Recent events — the cabinet change, the military law — appear to be making people skeptical… The scene is mixed up and the public, like many commentators and analysts, feel the process is painfully slow but I expect that it will clear up within a few days. Isn't the public fed up of waiting? I don't think these frustrations will lessen support for Al-Sisi once he begins his campaign. The real frustration has to do with the situation in the country. People are fed up with the current situation and they are waiting for Al-Sisi to change their lives which is why they are so eager for elections to be held. How do you perceive the recent presidential decree which makes the army almost independent from the executive and the defence minister commander-in-chief? It was not the case during Hosni Mubarak nor Mohamed Morsi. There is a new spirit. Mubarak was head of everything and now the constitution has reorganised all that. I don't think speculation about this law is particularly helpful. SCAF will still be headed by the president when need be. We have to move beyond a mentality that requires the president to chair everything. We need to move forward and to accept that things are changing. I agree that the timing and the manner in which some things are placed before the public contributes to a degree of anxiety. Things are not being handled efficiently in terms of communication. Does Al-Sisi consult with you over his presidential campaign? Will you be part of his team? What do you mean by a team? I support him. I think he is the right person for these crucial times and I think he will succeed if he becomes president. There will be a campaign, of course, and it will have a general coordinator whose name I don't know yet. You should know that I support whoever I feel can help save Egypt. Why do you think Al-Sisi is qualified to be president? I have discussed many matters with him, especially when I was heading the committee of 50. He is wise, composed, and he listens to all points of view within the framework of a candid and solid discussion. He was a member of the Supreme Council and commander-in-chief. He is a leader in his own field and an accomplished manager. I don't see any other candidate with the same background and I don't feel we can afford to take any chances in ruling Egypt and its 100 million inhabitants. We don't want a repeat of the Morsi experience. We want someone we can rely on and is well-equipped to start immediately. You don't have any problem with a president who has a military background? He is not running as commander-in-chief. He is not running on behalf of the army. He is running as someone encouraged by the support of the people and in whom they have placed their trust. Why are you supporting Al-Sisi when you yourself could have run? I said after the last presidential election that I would not stand again. Al-Sisi enjoys the support of the majority of the population. The people trust him and are calling on him to become president. We should not challenge this. Someone has to take the lead and the public feels it should be Al-Sisi. The will of the people has to be respected. The ballot box will decide, and I feel Al-Sisi will be elected. Do you think his popularity is a result of the public's dislike of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) or do people see him as a leader? It is a combination. He came at the right moment. The people were fed up with the one year rule of the MB regime. We were all upset and disappointed. We could not continue to support this rule when the majority of the public had agreed Egypt was going to rack and ruin. But this popularity could backfire. People might expect the impossible from him. We have a constitution and we will have an elected president and parliament. People will sense the achievement. Our problem is we rely exclusively on the leadership. We have to realise that one person can't do the job alone any more, people will have to be aware of this reality. What should the priorities of the next president be? The first thing is to recognise this will be the Third Republic. It will not be the same as it was under Morsi or Mubarak and their two different constitutions. There is a new constitution and with it must come new plans to rebuild the country. The next president should deal effectively with several issues simultaneously. The state of security, education, agriculture, health, economy and social justice all need to be addressed. Will Al-Sisi present an electoral programme with a timeframe? He will have to specify what he'll do in the four years of his term. It will be up to the government to furnish the details. Will he state his objectives for the first 100 days or so? I'm not sure… I don't know. I think he should, but we'll see. Can a man who was part of the military under Mubarak and Morsi build the Third Republic? You can't say Al-Sisi is not right for the job because he held such and such a post under Morsi or Mubarak. As an officer he had to submit to the command of his superiors. As a presidential candidate he will be standing as an ex-officer, away from the military. The Third Republic will not be built by one man. It will be based on a system created by the constitution and presided over the elected candidate. How can we emerge from the shadow of the economic crisis that was one of the triggers of the 25 January Revolution? Are we waiting for more Gulf money? The key is better management. We will only succeed if we all work together to rebuild Egypt. What we need is better management and well-studied projects. The Gulf and Saudi Arabia supported Egypt because they felt it was going down the drain. It is good they did so. Some other countries opted to punish Egypt for its political choices. But the fact is we cannot rely on Gulf money alone. We have to sit down and formulate an economic plan, assess exactly what we need and what we must do. A year ago I called for an international conference to which leading institutions could be invited to help assess how much money we need and what kind of plans should be in place. Egypt's success or failure will determine the future of the region. An Egypt that is back on its feet will help stabilise the region. International institutions will not determine what we must do and what we must not do but they can help in identifying ways ahead. Do you think there will be international pressure on Egypt if Al-Sisi becomes president? As far as the West is concerned he is the leader of a coup. He will be Egypt's elected president, chosen through the ballot box. Whether they call it a coup or not is unimportant to us…it is in fact irrelevant. There are those who argue social cohesion requires some form of reconciliation between the MB and the authorities. Do you agree? If you want to talk about social cohesion you need to talk about all parties. It is pointless thinking of one party as the determining factor, in this case the MB. The constitution does not exclude anyone. If you want to be part of the political process you have to take part in parliamentary elections. They have an open invitation by the constitution to go ahead and take part in the political process within the framework like all others. The MB committed grave mistakes in governing. They need to rethink what they have done and see the huge public anger at the violence they adopted. At the end of the day no group, including the MB, can defy the state and place itself above society. The MB should act as an opposition, but it must do so to help build the country. It can criticise the government but not connive to make it fail. Oppose, criticise, tell us what is wrong in your opinion. Terrorising families and society is something else altogether. Do you think the Ministry of Interior's tactics are paying off? The MB can't be dealt with solely on a security basis. There has to be a master plan, addressing political, cultural, social and economic failures. It's going to take a long time but once you start you will be on the right track… I hope. The same is needed to rebuild the country. When the next president is elected he won't be able to change everything in a day, a month or a year. We can rebuild the country once the people feel that the president and his team are serious about doing so, are willing to talk to the people in an open way and tell them the truth of the situation and are committed to meeting the people's needs. Can we expect that you'll be the next prime minister or vice president? I'm not thinking of occupying any post. But I will certainly be available to offer my advice in whatever capacity, preferably as an ordinary citizen. What kind of system is more appropriate for the parliamentary elections, individual or slate? I'm in favour of two thirds individual and one third slate, or three quarters and one quarter. This will give parties a chance to be active after years of inactivity. Will the individual candidacy system enable members of the MB and the National Democratic Party to become members of parliament? I predict there will be no majority party. The elections will result in a hung parliament, a weak situation but one that will allow us to create a new tradition of coalitions between parties and individuals. We will start lobbying and try to convince each other of our views. Do you believe the 25 January Revolution died because none of its demands materialised? No. The revolution had its impacts and more will show in the next few years. The revolution did not and will not die. What we are doing now is beginning a democratic process. Some say the revolution died because the people who protested in Tahrir Square did not go on to rule. But the fact is they didn't play their cards well. Their leaders were in conflict and many of them wanted to be prime minister or at least ministers without elections. Many groups went against the democratic process which was supposed to be promoted by the revolution. It was the MB that seized the opportunity and succeeded in both parliamentary and presidential elections. It was supposed to be a democratic rule but Morsi issued his November decree which exposed the MB's real intentions. Then came 30 June, which was to correct the democratic process and put it back on track. The security apparatus has been accused of widespread rights violations, including torture. Some even suggest things are becoming worse than under the Mubarak police state… I am sure it will not be that way. The security forces have to be tough but they must act in accordance with the constitution. Parliament will monitor that. But can police officers change their mindset? All our mindsets have to change. The mentality of all Egyptians must embrace new things — that all citizens are equal, freedom of expression should prevail and the law be enforced without favour. People should not be put in prison because they expressed themselves in a peaceful way. You don't have the right to terrorise people but you have the right to express yourself peacefully. Nobody should stop anyone from expressing their views in the right way. There is turmoil in Libya, Tunisia, Syria and Yemen. Relations with Sudan, Iran, Turkey and Hamas are tense to say the least. How can Egypt play an effective regional role in these circumstances? Egypt cannot restore its role without first dealing with its internal problems. But the moment the public, the region and the world sees Egypt is on the right track then we will be in a position to make our voice heard regionally. Once the roadmap is completed with a constitution, an elected president and parliament in place we can begin to think of our regional role. Implementing the roadmap is essential. We promised the world that we would, which is why the new constitution was so warmly welcomed. We have to put our own house in order, to show that there is a plan, a vision, that there is a team, a constitution, a president, a parliament. We have leaned towards Russia rather than the US since 30 June. How do you view this shift? The US is the superpower and we should not unnecessarily be in confrontation with it. Relations with Russia cannot replace our relations with the US. Russia is a powerful country and there is nothing wrong with having good relations with both Moscow and Washington. This has to be understood. Some people appear to think that Russia is still the Soviet Union, the other superpower and a competitor to the US. This is nonsense. We have to have relations with Russia but they cannot jeopardise our relations with the US or vice versa. We shouldn't steer our policy towards confronting the US but at the same time we have to defend ourselves against any encroachment on our rights and interests. So how do you define current US-Egyptian relations? There is a lot of suspicion but there is also the hope both sides will realise this is not positive and we have to reach a solid compromise. How can we mend our relations with Africa? We need to restore our relations. I was glad that Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy went on an African tour. We need more of that, with various ministers visiting, accompanied by economic delegations and members of the business community. When I was foreign minister I led many economic delegations and this resulted in Egypt being part of COMESA. Is it too late to mend fences with Africa? Nothing is too late. But we already have a crisis with Ethiopia over water… The water problem is another issue. We need policies to deal with the problem and until now we don't have them. It's not something that concerns only the minister of irrigation. It is not the sole responsibility of the agriculture minister, or the foreign and defence ministers. It's the whole government's responsibility. There should be a team in place that knows all the ins and outs, the details and options of solutions. Why isn't it happening? Because we have transitional government. We need to end this transitional stage as quickly as possible. So why have a new government if it cannot address the real issues? What I understood, as a member of the public like you, was that the people were angry and frustrated. The response was to change several ministers. Now we have a prime minister who has a reputation for being active and it will be for the better. I want to put on record that I greet and thank Hazem Al-Beblawi. He has done a good job and I hope the best for Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb. How do you see the balance of power after presidential and parliamentary elections? Is there the possibility of conflict between competing institutions? There can't be. We have a constitution and institutions will have to act accordingly. The president will still have a lot of power. In the article concerning the selection of a prime minister the president has the first choice, he says I nominate so and so as prime minister. The nominee will have to produce a programme and win a parliamentary vote of confidence. If the prime minister does not get that vote because parliament wants to play a game with the president, to give him a message that they are the masters, then the president will say okay, you're in charge, name a prime minister. They choose a prime minister and the president has the choice to dissolve the parliament. These provisions will create a balance of power. Parliament can approve the president's nominee but they can also give him a hard time. Don't you think you are being optimistic? I am optimistic. Maybe things will not happen exactly this way but it's a good start. How do you see Hamdeen Sabahi's candidacy? I praise his step and courage. There is speculation Sabahi's nomination was requested for the elections to appear a real race… Of course not. There are too many incorrect assumptions and conspiracy theories. Sabahi has decided to run because he wants to run. If it was in a different time that doesn't require certain qualifications, I might have voted for him.
