To the rejoicing of millions of his supporters and the expectation of possibly angry or resentful opposition, the former head of the armed forces and minister of defence Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announced his formal resignation from the Armed Forces on Wednesday evening and his intention to stand in the forthcoming presidential elections, once the Presidential Elections Committee has announced them, a development scheduled for Sunday. “I stand before you for the last time in the uniform that I have had the great honour of wearing for the last 45 years since I joined the military in high school,” Al-Sisi said at the beginning of a 15-minute statement that was televised on all the state-run Egyptian TV channels as well as by private and satellite channels. Using colloquial but carefully structured language, the outgoing minister of defence said that he was parting from his uniform in order to continue the mission that he had always taken upon himself since he had decided to join the military: to serve the nation. “I shall always consider myself to be a soldier in the service of the nation and will always put myself at the disposal of the people in any position they may ask of me,” Al-Sisi said. The presidential candidate, some say also the president-in-waiting given his popularity and the support he enjoys from state bodies, also spoke of what he called the daunting economic, social and security challenges that Egypt was facing. Al-Sisi said it was “unacceptable” for Egypt to be facing overwhelming unemployment and indebtedness and serious threats of terrorism and attempted foreign intervention. Dealing with these challenges would require the collective efforts of all Egyptians, he said. Calling his mission one of “regaining Egypt”, Al-Sisi said it was “a tough mission that can only be accomplished at a high price”. However, he added that despite the challenges the country faced, “I do not at all despair of the Egyptian people's ability to deal with them” through the efforts of the leadership and the people acting together. “No leader can live up to such a mission by depending on himself alone,” Al-Sisi said. The broadcast contained no details of Al-Sisi's programme as president, since these would be published when his candidacy was made official. He also said that he would not be running an election campaign “in the traditional sense,” owing to security constraints. The speech was sent to the media early in the afternoon, having been taped at a ministry of defence facility earlier. In the broadcast, Al-Sisi said he hoped his candidacy would not stop others from joining the presidential race. The statement was aired a couple of hours after news of a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and a decision of interim President Adli Mansour to promote Sobhi Sedki in anticipation of his appointment as the new minister of defence. Reactions to Al-Sisi's statement were overwhelmingly positive. “I am glad he has finally announced his decision. I was beginning to fear that he was getting cold feet,” said Siham Kamal, a retired civil servant in her 70s. Speaking at a Heliopolis supermarket shortly after Al-Sisi's statement, Kamal said that she had wanted the former chief of the army to stand for the presidency because “I honestly don't think anyone else would be able to do the job. We are going through difficult times, and we need someone who can command the support of all state bodies.” “We need someone who can work hard and someone who has a lot of discipline. Let us hope that God will be on his side, because it is in the interest of everyone that he succeeds, including those who say they don't want him,” she said. Kamal's sentiments were echoed by Al-Sisi supporters, with some emphasising Al-Sisi's role in ousting former Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi last summer following escalating protests against him. “The army is the only body stronger than the Muslim Brotherhood, and it would have been impossible to free the country from the Brotherhood without the army. For this reason, we need the chief of the army to be president. The conflict with the Brotherhood is not over yet,” said Fayez Fekri, a carpenter in his mid 30s. However, for the anti-Al-Sisi camp, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, the announcement of Al-Sisi's candidacy was “the completion of the coup d'état that removed the legitimately elected president,” according to Brotherhood Facebook pages. On Wednesday, Brotherhood students and sympathisers held demonstrations at several universities, among them Cairo University, in anticipation of the announcement. In his speech, Al-Sisi made no direct reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, but said that all Egyptians who had not been charged with offences would be welcome to join the collective national effort he was set to lead. For the anti-Al-Sisi constituency that joined the anti-Morsi demonstrations in June last year, but then did not support the army's intervention, Al-Sisi's candidacy was expected, though it was not always supported. Members of this constituency did not conceal their dismay at the former head of the armed forces declaring his candidacy in an election that in their view was settled in advance, though they generally opted for a wait-and-see approach. “In 2012, we had a genuine presidential race. There were candidates that tried hard to garner support, touring the country and putting up with all sorts of criticism. There was even a presidential debate.” “But this time round we have the minister of defence coming on state TV to tell us that he has decided to run in the presidential race. We have to wait and see how things will unfold, but this is surely a setback for democracy,” said Shaimaa Hussein, a 29-year-old designer who took part in both the 25 January Revolution and the 30 June nationwide demonstrations. For those who support Al-Sisi, however, his ascent to the top executive post is about democracy, because his candidacy is the will of what Kamal called “the vast majority, or very large majority, of Egyptians.” “We cannot have what we had in 2012 again. What we need today is stability and security,” she said.
