Love him or loathe him, Egypt’s Sisi is here to stay
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a pious Muslim but reportedly having a big ego, has effectively silenced all political opposition
Cairo — With his trademark black sunglasses and blanket media presence, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, elected this week to a second term in office, projects an air of benign paternalism. Whether the people love or loathe Sisi, see him as a bulwark of stability or as a domineering autocrat — there is little doubt that he will remain Egypt’s president for years to come. He stormed to victory in the 2014 presidential election, having led the military a year before in ousting the country’s first freely elected leader, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi. Morsi now languishes in jail, convicted on many and varied counts and handed multiple sentences including the death penalty. Sisi successfully silenced all forms of political opposition during his first four-year term. In the run-up to his re-election announced on Thursday, he swept aside all token opposition parties, leaving himself as the main choice on the ballot paper. The sole challenger was the little-known Moussa Mostafa Moussa,...
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