Egypt govt to quit, Sisi to make cabinet changes: media

CAIRO: Egypt´s military-installed government was due to resign Monday, with new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expected to make changes to the cabinet on his first day in office, media reported.

The ex-army chief was sworn in on Sunday, nearly a year after ousting elected president Mohamed Morsi after millions protested against the Islamist´s divisive one year rule.

"The cabinet ended its last meeting on Monday morning ... during which it prepared its letter of resignation to be presented to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi," state news agency MENA reported.

Egyptian newspapers reported that Sisi is expected to ask interim prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab to continue in his post, but could make minor changes to the cabinet.

The government installed by Sisi, who has been the de facto leader since he ousted Morsi, has carried out a brutal crackdown on the former president´s Muslim Brotherhood in which more than 1,400 people have been killed and thousands more jailed.

Hours after his inauguration, Sisi, in a warning to the now blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, said there will be "no leniency and truce with those who resort to violence".

"I am looking to a new era built on reconciliation and tolerance.. except with those who committed crimes or used violence as a tool," he said on Sunday in his first national address as president.

"I am saying clearly that those who shed the blood of the innocent and killed ... the sons of Egypt, they don´t have a place in (our) march."

At his inauguration, Western countries alarmed by the brutal police crackdown on dissent were represented mostly by low-level representatives.

Sisi becomes Egypt´s second elected president since a popular uprising overthrew longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011, unleashing more than three years of political turmoil.

Sisi sweeps election as Egypt military reasserts grip

CAIRO: Ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has scored a crushing presidential election triumph and consolidated the military´s grip, 11 months after the overthrow of the only Egyptian president not drawn from its ranks.

Ninety-six percent of voters, at least 21 million Egyptians, chose Sisi, who deposed elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, with ballots counted from all but a handful of 352 stations, state television reported Thursday.

Sisi´s only electoral rival, leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, won less than four percent, according to the preliminary results.

The longtime opposition figure conceded defeat on Thursday but cast doubt on the estimated turnout figure of 47 percent after calls for a high participation rate as a sign of legitimacy.

Ahead of the final results due within a week, hundreds of Sisi supporters took to the streets on Wednesday night to celebrate, waving Egyptian flags, setting off fireworks and honking car horns.

"It´s a victory for stability," said Tahra Khaled, among the crowd in Cairo´s Tahrir Square, nerve centre of the mass protests that forced autocratic president Hosni Mubarak to step down in 2011.Sisi, who retired from the army to run for office, becomes Egypt´s fifth president from the military, reasserting the institution´s grip on politics in the Arab world´s most populous nation.

The military has always formed the backbone of political life in Egypt and the institution has provided its leaders ever since army officers toppled the monarchy in 1952.The only exception was Morsi, elected a year after the fall of Mubarak, himself a former air force commander.

"Few would have imagined that... three years after Mubarak´s toppling, a field marshall, a new pharaoh, would be elected again with 96 percent, without even unveiling a programme and without campaigning," said analyst Karim Bitar.

Sisi rode on a wave of support for a potential new strongman who can restore stability and revive the economy after three years of turmoil.

But his opponents say that since he ousted Morsi last July, Egypt returned to autocracy.A state crackdown targeting Morsi supporters has left at least 1,400 people dead in street clashes and seen more than 15,000 others jailed.

Dozens of young activists have also been jailed for violating a law banning all but police-authorised protests.

A European Union team that observed the election said Thursday the vote was conducted "in line with the law," although it regretted the lack of participation of some "stakeholders", in a likely reference to Morsi´s banned Muslim Brotherhood and youth dissident groups.

Egypt’s Sisi says he will run for president

CAIRO: Egypt’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that he had quit the military to run for president, vowing to rid the country of “terrorism” nearly nine months after he toppled the elected leader.

Sisi, who was also defence minister, faces no serious competition in the election, likely before June, and is expected to win comfortably riding on a wave of popularity for his law and order message.

He declared his widely anticipated candidacy in a televised address.

“Today, I stand before you for the last time in a military uniform, after deciding to end my service as defence minister and commander of the armed forces,” he said, dressed in his field marshal’s uniform, sitting behind a wooden desk.

“With all modesty, I nominate myself for the presidency of Egypt.
“I will continue to fight every day for an Egypt free of terrorism,” he added. (AFP)

Sisi remains Egypt defence minister as new cabinet sworn in

CAIRO; Egypt's army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to stand for president, was retained as defence minister in the new cabinet sworn in Saturday, state television showed.
The new line-up led by prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab was unveiled after Hazem al-Beblawi's government resigned on Monday amid mounting criticism of its failure to tackle a floundering economy and worsening industrial unrest.
The new cabinet is tasked with organising a presidential election that is expected to bring Sisi, who is also a vice prime minister, to power.
Sisi, who has emerged as Egypt's most popular political figure since he led the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July, has not yet announced his candidacy in the election scheduled for this spring.
However, his aides say he has already decided to stand. In order to do so, Sisi must first step down as defence minister and army chief.
One of his aides told AFP this week Sisi is expected to stay on as defence minister until an electoral law has been passed.
The new government faces a host of challenges including huge security problems and economic woes, ahead of the election seen as a major step in a roadmap outlined by the interim military-installed authorities after Morsi's ouster.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected and civilian president, was ousted following mass protests against his one-year rule which was marred by allegations of power grabbing and worsening an already dilapidated economy.
Analysts say the formation of a new government is likely to work in Sisi's favour as he would like to stand in the election with a government that has a good record.
Since July, Egypt has been battling deadly street violence and militant attacks that have scared off foreign investors and tourists alike.
Beblawi's government had become increasingly unpopular despite announcing two economic stimulus packages aimed at kick-starting the economy with funds provided by friendly Gulf Arab states.
Many Egyptians, weary of the three years of turmoil since the 2011 toppling of former strongman Hosni Mubarak, view Sisi as a strong hand who can restore stability.