Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, the winner of last week's presidential election, made a brief but sober statement to acknowledge his electoral victory shortly after the official results were announced on Tuesday. Al-Sisi committed himself to serving the best interests of the nation and expressed his gratitude to the public for having taken part “in an impressive democratic exercise”. He thanked “the millions of Egyptians who queued up before the ballot boxes to write the future of Egypt”, the judges who oversaw the electoral process, the Armed Forces and police who provided security and the media for documenting the electoral process. “I wish particularly to thank Hamdeen Sabahi for making a real electoral competition possible,” said Al-Sisi. Echoing one of the major themes of his campaign, Al-Sisi said “now is the time to begin the hard work” needed to build “a better tomorrow” in which stability and prosperity are the norm. Acknowledging the key goals of the 25 January Revolution, the president elect said the future is a blank page and that it is up to Egyptians to fill this page with “bread, freedom, human dignity and social justice”. The entire speech, broadcast on all Egyptian TV channels and watched by millions, lasted for less than five minutes. Al-Sisi delivered it while standing next to the Egyptian flag. Following Tuesday's official announcement by the Presidential Election Commission that Al-Sisi had won the ballot thousands celebrated in public squares around the country with cheers, fireworks and dance in Tahrir Square and around Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace. after his brief speech. Al-Sisi's supporters are planning a historic two-part swearing-in ceremony. The first part is expected next Saturday or Sunday when Al-Sisi takes the oath of office before the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) to become the seventh president of Egypt. The ceremony will take place in the grand hall of the SCC's headquarters in Maadi. It will be attended by the 12-member general assembly of the court, currently headed by Deputy Chairman Anwar Al-Assi, and its panel of commissioners. Al-Assi served as head of the Presidential Election Commission (PEC) which oversaw the presidential poll. The swearing-in will begin with short speeches by SCC spokesman Maher Sami, and Al-Assi. The speeches will be followed by the oath of office. Article 144 of the new constitution stipulates that the newly elected president swears to keep the republican system intact, to respect the constitution and laws, observe the interests of the people and uphold the independence, unity and integrity of the homeland. Adli Mansour, who served as SCC chairman before being named interim president following Mohamed Morsi's ouster on 3 July, 2013, will be in the audience. Al-Sisi's campaign team then plans to hold what it terms “an international inauguration ceremony”, to take place in one of the presidential palaces. Informed sources say the venue is likely to be the historic Al-Kobba Palace, despite the fact it is situated in a densely populated area and thus presents a number of security problems. The swearing-in and inauguration ceremonies will be secured by the republican guard, the army and police. Al-Sisi campaign sources say invitations to the ceremony have already been extended to Arab leaders, including the Gulf monarchies which supported the removal of Mohamed Morsi and backed last November's designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation. Soon after the official results were announced, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah asked countries to attend a donor conference for Egypt. “I urge you all to attend a donors' conference to help Egypt overcome its economic difficulties,” he said. There are contradicting reports about whether non-Arab leaders have been invited. Sources close to the Al-Sisi campaign say they are unaware of invitations being extended to senior American or EU officials. Al-Sisi's campaign team has several times accused Western officials of trying to undermine Egypt's post-30 June political roadmap. On Monday Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti said the ministry had extended invitations on behalf of president Mansour to “Arab kings, presidents, and chairmen of local, regional and international organisations”. That Russian president Vladimir Putin was the first world leader to extend congratulations to Al-Sisi – he called on 30 May – provoked a flurry of speculation among Egypt's commentariat. “Putin's phone call with Al-Sisi reveals a sincere wish on the part of the Russian president to step up political cooperation with Cairo,” insists journalist Mustafa Bakri. “In return, president-elect Al-Sisi should show willingness to take Egyptian-Russian relations to new horizons.” “I think the first lesson Al-Sisi should draw from the rule of former presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi is that strategic relations with America come at the expense of national independence. The Americans used their money to ensure that Mubarak toed their line. Yet during the last ten years of his rule they bankrolled a number of opposition movements until Mubarak was replaced by the fanatic Muslim Brotherhood.” Salah Eissa, editor of the weekly Cairo, argues “there is a pressing need for Egypt to end 40 years of dependency on America, a policy instituted by Anwar Al-Sadat and maintained by Hosni Mubarak”. “It is high time to end this doctrine in favour of more balanced international relations. The shift in policy does not mean that Al-Sisi has to be at loggerheads with Washington. The options are not if I am not a friend of America I must be its enemy, or if I am a friend of Russia I must be an enemy of America.” As Putin was congratulating Al-Sisi on his “convincing victory”, American officials were calling for an “inclusive democracy” in Egypt. Eissa and Bakri share the view of a number of independent analysts that “inclusive democracy” is shorthand for the reintegration of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood into the political process. Al-Sisi will be Egypt's third president in as many years. Both Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi were ousted from office in the wake of mass uprisings and subsequently referred to trial on charges that included corruption and manslaughter. Hussein Tantawi, who was de facto head of state under the rule of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), was sent into retirement without facing court proceedings. Al-Sisi won last week's ballot by an historic margin. He secured ten million votes more than Morsi won in 2012, a tally that lends his presidency unquestioned legitimacy. From the outset of his campaign Al-Sisi was clear there was no question of any reconciliation with Muslim Brotherhood should he win. “The problem this group has is with the Egyptian people, not with me or the ruling authorities,” Al-Sisi said. “Arab peoples have become increasingly disenchanted with political Islam which has developed an aggressive and reactionary form of the religion”.
