The President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

• 16 / 5 / 2023

Abdel Fattah said Hussein Khalil el-Sisi (born November 19, 1954) is an Egyptian politician and military officer serving as the sixth and current president of the Arab Republic of Egypt since June 3, 2014, and the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces. He advanced in military positions until he was appointed director of the military intelligence and Reconnaissance Department in 2010, then he was chosen as defense minister to succeed Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi on August 12, 2012, he was elected in 2014 for 4 years after his success in the presidential elections, after he overthrew President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013 (the first elected civilian president after the January 25 Revolution) a year after he took office following demonstrations demanding his departure, and announced accompanying measures known as the road map, opposed by supporters of President Mohamed Morsi at that time was considered-and with them part of the International and Arab community- A military coup, while demonstrators and opponents of then-President Mohamed Morsi supported it, considering it a revolution and in support of popular demands.

He graduated from the War College in 1977, served in the infantry corps, was appointed commander of the Northern Military District, and took the post of director of the military intelligence and reconnaissance Department. He then served as the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the forty-fourth minister of defense from 12 August 2012 until his resignation on 26 March 2014 to run for President. He was sworn in for his first four-year presidential term before the Constitutional Court on 8 June 2014, while he was sworn in for his second term before the Chamber of Deputies on 2 June 2018.

Sisi has been described by Forbes magazine as "a friend of economic reform and an enemy of many civil liberties and radical thought," and his regime has been described as authoritarian. Especially in Western sources - do not consider Egypt under Sisi to be a Democratic state, citing the imprisonment of political opponents, curtailing press freedom, and the lack of free elections, and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch accused the security forces under his reign of violations such as the use of torture, enforced disappearance, and imprisonment of opponents and their relatives, while Sisi denied these accusations and called for "to be based on information published by human rights organizations". In the 2018 presidential election, Sisi faced only nominal opposition after the military arrest of Sami Anan and the subsequent enforced disappearance, the withdrawal of Ahmed Shafik after being threatened with old corruption charges according to one of his lawyers, and the withdrawal of the rest of the candidates due to obstacles and alleged violations by the Election Commission. At the same time, Sisi considered that Western democracy is unfit for the Middle East only in the long term because of conflicts, obstacles to education, and poverty. Egypt began a successful economic reform program under Sisi, which helped make the Egyptian economy the fastest growing in the Middle East by 2019, but the percentage of poor people continued to rise due to austerity measures and the coronavirus crisis, and this was met with measures to strengthen Social Protection networks. Sisi was criticized for increasing the role of the army in the economy, but he replied that that role does not exceed 2 percent of GDP, and denied that it is at the expense of the private sector. The capabilities of the armed forces have also grown under Sisi, and Egypt became the third largest arms importer globally in 2015-19.

His upbringing

Abdel Fattah was born on November 19, 1954, in the Gamaleya neighborhood of Cairo, to a father named "said Hussein Khalil al-Sisi", the owner of a bazaar shop, and a mother named "Suad Ibrahim", and his family origins date back to Menoufia governorate.

Military qualification

He began his military career in 1970 as a student at the Air High School.
He graduated from the Egyptian Military College in 1977 with a bachelor's degree.
He received a master's degree from the Command and Staff College in 1987.
He received a master's degree from the British Command and Staff College in 1992 with the same specialty.
He was awarded the Higher War College Fellowship from Nasser Higher Military Academy in 2003.
He was awarded the 2006 American Graduate War College Fellowship.

Pre-presidential career

Commander of a mechanized infantry battalion.
Defense attaches to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Head of the information and security branch of the general secretariat of the Ministry of Defense.
Chief of staff of a mechanized infantry brigade.
Commander of a mechanized infantry brigade.
Chief of staff of the second Mechanized Infantry Division.
The commander of the second Mechanized Infantry Division.
Chief of Staff of the Northern Military District.
Commander of the Northern Military District.
Deputy director of the Department of military intelligence and reconnaissance.
Director of military intelligence and reconnaissance (January 2010-August 2012).

During the reign of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

He was the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces before being chosen for his post. He was also the first to confirm that, in March 2011, members of the military police conducted what was known in the media as virginity disclosures, saying that they were justified because they protect girls from rape and protect soldiers from being accused of rape.

During the rule of President Mohamed Morsi

On August 12, 2012, then-President Mohamed Morsi issued a decision to promote Sisi from the rank of Major General to the rank of First Lieutenant and appoint him minister of Defense and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, succeeding Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who was then serving as head of military intelligence and reconnaissance. The Freedom and Justice party at the time considered him a "defense minister with the flavor of the revolution".

Statement of July 3, 2013

On July 3, 2013, the then Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, announced the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, the suspension of the 2012 constitution, and the handover of power to the president of the Supreme Constitutional Court, adviser Adly Mansour, and announced several measures that accompanied this, known as the roadmap, supported by opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, and considered this in support of popular demands and demonstrations of June 30, while Sisi was accused by another part of Egyptian and international society that he had staged a military coup. He dismissed the elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, suspended the Constitution, cut off the broadcast of several media outlets, and assigned the head of the Constitutional Court Adly Mansour to head the country. President Mohamed Morsi was detained in an undisclosed location for several months, and arrest warrants were issued for 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

During the reign of President Adly Mansour

On January 27, 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Marshal by a decision of President Adly Mansour, and he was preceded by a meeting of the Supreme Council of the armed forces in which he announced that he approved the "popular mandate" of then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to run for President. On March 26, 2014, he officially announced his resignation from his post and ran for the presidential elections after a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces attended by President Adly Mansour, during which Lieutenant General Sedki Sobhi was promoted to first lieutenant and appointed Minister of defense as Sisi's successor the next day.

Running for president of the Republic

Egyptian presidential election 2014 and the inauguration of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi I
A roadmap was announced following the removal of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, developed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces following popular protests demanding the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from office, and included temporarily suspending the Constitution; appointing the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court as interim president of Egypt; and holding early presidential elections, which were organized in May 2014.

On March 26, 2014, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced his resignation from his post as Minister of Defense and officially ran for the presidential elections.in April of the same year, he submitted his candidacy papers, which included about 188 thousand power of attorney from citizens. after closing the nomination door, the Supreme Election Commission announced that the competition would be between Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahi only in the elections held during May 2014 with the participation of Egyptians inside and outside Egypt. Sisi won by 780,104. 23 votes with 96.9% of the valid votes cast.

Running for a second term

On January 19, 2018, near the end of his first term, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced his candidacy for a second term in the presidential elections scheduled to be held in late March of the same year, while many Arab and international newspapers expressed their deep criticism of the repressive measures taken against most of the contenders for the presidential seat, which resulted in the restriction of competition between him and the only candidate, Musa Mustafa Musa. in contrast, the Egyptian government stated that the measures taken against potential candidates were for violating the legal nomination procedures or Egyptian military laws.

On March 29, 2018, press reports reported that the preliminary figures of the vote count indicated the re-election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a second presidential term and that the number of participants in the elections reached 23 million and 293 thousand voters, while the number of registered voters in Egypt is about 59 million, with a participation rate of about 40% of the number of voters who have the right to vote.

On April 2, 2018, the National Election Commission, headed by consultant Lashin Ibrahim, announced the election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as president of the Republic for a second term by winning 97.08% of the valid votes cast. The commission announced that the number of registered voters in the database is 59 million 78 thousand and 138 voters, the number of those who cast their votes abroad is 157 thousand and 60 voters, the number of those who cast their votes at home is 24 million and 97 thousand and 92 voters, the number of those who cast at home and abroad is 24 million and 254 thousand and 152 voters by 41.05%, and the number of valid votes is 22 million and 491 thousand and 921 votes by 92.73% and the number of invalid votes was one million, 762 thousand, 231 votes, 7.27% of the total votes. Candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received 21 million 835 thousand 387 votes with 97.08% of the valid votes, while candidate Moussa Mustafa received 656 thousand 534 votes with 2.92% of the valid votes.

On June 2, 2018, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in by the House of Representatives for a second presidential term in a special session by Article 144 of the Egyptian constitution and Article 109 of the internal regulations of the House of Representatives.

Running for a third term

Egyptian presidential election 2023

On December 18, 2023, it was announced that Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won a third presidential term, receiving 89.6% of the votes (39.7 million votes), after defeating three other candidates, Hazem Omar from the Republican People's Party (4.5% of the votes), Farid Zahran, the head of the Egyptian Democratic Party (Center-Left) (4% of the votes) and Abdel-sind Yamama from the ancient liberal Wafd Party (1.9% of the votes).

Economy

Sisi came to power at a time when the Egyptian economy was suffering severely, the economy was in a state of free fall, in which economic growth reached 2% per year, high inflation reached double digits, and the unemployment rate reached 13%, with the youth unemployment rate more than double that, accompanied by a decrease in foreign reserves of less than 17 billion dollars. Sisi soon began trying to strengthen the country's economy, reached out to foreign countries for cash payments, and received aid packages from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates worth 12 billion dollars, in addition to a loan of 12 billion dollars for three years from the International Monetary Fund. In return, the government took tough austerity measures that had obvious effects on the lower and middle classes, in terms of reducing subsidies on hydrocarbons, floating the Egyptian pound, and imposing Value Added Tax, which led to an increase in the inflation rate above the level of 30% and the accompanying rise in prices, and an increase in the cost of government services such as drinking water, electricity, and transportation.

In his speeches, which he constantly addressed to the Egyptian people, Sisi acknowledged the difficulty of these measures, but at the same time stressed that in the absence of these reform measures for the Egyptian economy, it will produce sequentially much worse effects.

However, these measures have begun to bear fruit, the economic growth rate has reached 5.4%, inflation has fallen to close to 11%, the unemployment rate has reached its lowest level in eight years, and the foreign exchange reserve has increased to 44 billion dollars. The devastated tourism industry has even begun to recover and has re-emerged by 30% until 2018 compared to the previous year's figures, generating an important source of hard currency to the public treasury, while at the same time contributing to reducing unemployment rates by providing related jobs. Foreign companies have also started to direct investment in Egypt, including Italy's Eni, Germany's Siemens and Russia's Rosatom.

Global economic crises

Corona pandemic

Russian-Ukrainian war

Syrian Civil War

Libyan civil war

Sudanese civil war

Education

The launch of the new education system in public and official "experimental", national and private schools, to build a new scientifically qualified Egyptian youth in a completely different way from what the previous education system offered.
Implementation of the Japanese experience in education "tokatsu", to upgrade the education system, which provides educational activities aimed at preparing a balanced and integrated human personality. And the construction of 45 Egyptian-Japanese schools that provide distinctive educational services for a fee.
The expansion of the establishment of international public schools that grant the baccalaureate and the international Nile certificate, to provide a Distinguished Educational Service with government support, competes with private international schools with high expenses.

Health

The start of the implementation of the comprehensive health insurance system, in light of the law, issued No. 2 of 2018, which aims to extend comprehensive insurance coverage to all citizens within 15 years (in 5 stages), provided that the state Treasury bears the value of the contribution of the insured from the categories of the incapable, including the unemployed unable to work and each member of the dependents ' family.
Launching the initiative to end waiting lists over 3 years.
Launch of the initiative to eliminate the C virus and detect non-communicable diseases

Tourism

The Egyptian tourism sector suffered painful blows due to the political instability that followed the January 25 Revolution, and the subsequent terrorist incidents and aviation accidents that led to the reluctance of a large category of tourists to visit Egypt. However, tourism revenues have recovered again, with Egypt taking second place on the World Tourism Organization's list of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world for 2017.

Industry

Supporting medium, small, and micro-enterprises.
Reducing the indiscriminate import and encouraging Egyptian products in front of foreign products.
The establishment and development of specialized industrial cities and areas such as the Rubiki leather and furniture cities in Damietta.

Youth

In an interview with a Saudi newspaper, Sisi expressed his desire to listen to the opinions of young people and qualify him to enable him to obtain leadership opportunities, and this was explained through the national youth conferences held by Sisi on an ongoing basis and attends their events in different Egyptian cities to communicate with the youth of Egypt, which according to statistics in 2016 represented 37.6% of the population, as well as launching the presidential program initiative to qualify youth for leadership, and the establishment of the National Academy for the rehabilitation and training of youth.

Social solidarity

Sisi expressed his interest in social groups in need of urgent care, so the ministries of Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, in cooperation with the Hayya Misr Fund and civil society institutions, launched several projects for social care and solidarity, including:

Increase the minimum wage.

Increasing ration card support

increasing the value of what an individual is entitled to in the ration card, which benefits citizens enrolled in ration cards by disbursing subsidized goods monthly through the grocers, outlets of the jamiati project, and consumer complexes.

The Takaful and Dignity program

is a conditional cash support program to combat poverty and provide social protection to the most vulnerable groups in society from poor families, the elderly, orphans, or those with total or partial disabilities that hinder them from working.

Mastura program

supports and empowers women breadwinners through micro-loans that help them to become a productive and active element in society instead of a recipient of support.

The Egypt without Gharmin

 initiative is an initiative to repay the debts of Garmin and fines and release them after they have been sentenced to prison.

Decent Living Initiative

an initiative to develop infrastructure in the most needy villages.
We are with your initiative: to rescue and provide full care to homeless people on the streets and homeless people.

Homeless children program

to protect homeless children, and provide urgent services to them such as nutrition, health services, and referral to the authorities concerned with providing services to children and their families.

Temporary and seasonal employment insurance initiative "safety certificate".

Mawada program

to train and familiarize future young people to get married with the right ways to protect the family and face the phenomenon of its disintegration.
Alternative housing project: to transfer residents of dangerous slums to modern furnished planned safe housing units.

Generous housing program

to provide basic services to poor and deprived families with clean drinking water and sanitation, and the restoration of roofs of houses.

My association project

aims to cover disadvantaged areas and villages that are far from consumer complexes at the level of the Republic, to provide job opportunities for young people, and to provide basic goods at affordable prices for citizens.

Transportation 

Sisi paid attention to the transport and roads sector clearly, as he explained in his talks that this sector was not qualified or suitable for the future of investment in Egypt, so Egypt started serious and huge projects in this sector, including:

Ports and sea lanes

The new Suez Canal is a project aimed at increasing the revenues and competitive capabilities of the Suez Canal. The project was started in August 2014 and opened in August 2015.
Port Said canal: it is a project to dig a canal east of the port of Port Said with a length of 9.5 km to develop the East Branch port to become a global port that accommodates the largest amount of World Trade, and that ships cross directly to the port without passing through the Suez Canal.
Connecting tunnels east and west of the Suez Canal: it is a project to create two tunnels (North and South) for cars in the south of Port Said and two tunnels (North and South) for cars in the north of Ismailia.
Development of the East Port Said region: it is a project to develop the East Port Said region, including the development of the East Port Said Port, the industrial and logistics zone, and fish farms.
Development of Alexandria, Maks, and Dekheila ports (Alexandria Grand Port)
Development of Abu Qir port:
Development of Damietta port:
Development of Sokhna port:
Development of El Arish port:

Routes

Over the past few years, this sector has witnessed a qualitative shift in the length and quality of roads, for example: The National Roads Project is a project to create 14 new roads within a year with lengths up to 1200 kilometers.

Airports

It is a project to convert existing military airports to be partially used for civilian activity, such as Sphinx Airport on October 6, The New Administrative Capital Airport, and Bardawil Airport.

The railway

The National Railway Authority of Egypt has contracted with transmash holding Hungary (TMHH) (Hungarian/Russian alliance), to purchase 1300 new passenger cars, including 500 distinctive cars, 500 special air-conditioned cars, and 300 air-conditioned cars first and second class, including the required spare parts, provided that the company will establish a new workshop equipped with all the tools and equipment required for the maintenance and life of the cars.

Metro

LRT light electric train
Monorail
Electric express train
The frequency bus

New cities

The new administrative capital

it is a project to create a new city east of Cairo to become the new administrative and financial capital of Egypt, the headquarters of government departments and key ministries, as well as foreign embassies.
Galala City: it is a project to create the city of Galala located between Ain Sokhna and Zaafarana at an altitude of 700 meters from sea level, with an area of 17 thousand acres, the city is planned to be full of facilities and services, including a medical City, an Olympic Village, a tourist resort on an area of 1000 acres, housing for the low-income, service areas, educational facilities (King Salman University), in addition to Ain Sokhna road- Al-Zaafarana, on the side of which mount Galala is built, a new industrial zone will be established, including the establishment of a factory for phosphate fertilizers and their derivatives, in addition to the development of taking advantage of the quarries area in the Marble Mountains that produce "marble of Galala" and "Carolina ore", which is used in the cement, child and glass sand industries.
New Alamein City: it is a project to create a new city within the borders of Matrouh governorate on an area of about 48 thousand acres targeting a population of about two million people.
New Mansoura City: it is a project to create a new coastal city on an area of 5100 acres on the Mediterranean coast between Jumsa and Kafr el-sheik to accommodate more than half a million citizens.
Nasser City, Assiut.

For social housing

The one million housing units project is a project to implement one million units for social housing and low-income people.

Development of slums

Sisi has shown remarkable interest in developing slums and dangerous areas in most governorates of Egypt either with government projects or in partnership with civil society organizations by following a different package of options either by developing buildings in good architectural condition or by demolishing dilapidated buildings that cannot be developed and compensating their residents with financial compensation or alternative housing units in newly constructed buildings allocated for this purpose or compensation Mrs. Zeinab kindergarten, Al-Khayala land, Ain Al-Sira, Bashir Goodness).

Water and drainage plants

Freshwater purification plants: these are projects for the implementation and expansion of 6 plants, namely "the tenth of Ramadan, October, Sadat, Assiut, Assiut plateau, west of Qena" with a total produced capacity of 1.4 million m3/day.
Seawater desalination plants: these are the projects for the construction of desalination plants in Matrouh, Dabaa, South Sinai, Ain Sokhna, Galala, East Port Said, and New Alamein.
Sewage treatment plants:
Agricultural wastewater treatment plants: including the AL-muhsama, Bahr al-Baqar, and hammam plants to exploit treated water in the reclamation of desert lands.
Population growth

demographics of Egypt

Energy

Before Sisi took office, the electricity sector witnessed problems and malfunctions that caused widespread anger among citizens due to constant power outages to relieve loads. After Sisi assumed the presidency, he paid special attention to this sector, and the service improved significantly with the provision of fuel for power plants and the addition of new capacities to the national grid through an urgent plan to carry out maintenance work for power plants, the completion of the work of stations under construction, the conclusion of contracts worth 6 billion euros with Siemens international to add new capacities to the grid distributed over three giant stations in (Beni Suef, burlus, the administrative capital), expanding the diversification of energy sources, especially renewable ones, which mainly include wind and solar energy, pumping and storage technology, and Law No. 203 of 2014 was issued to stimulate investment in energy field Construction of new and renewable power plants using clean coal technology, activation and implementation of contracts for the first Egyptian nuclear plant project in Dabaa, development of the electricity transmission network and distribution networks, rationalization of energy consumption both government and through letters addressed to consumers, completion of electrical interconnection projects with neighboring countries to take advantage of the difference in rush hours between morning and evening in the common country.

During 2023, a power outage crisis appeared in Egyptian cities, which the government attributed to an unprecedented rise in temperatures, which increased demand for more electricity consumption, and therefore a consumer increase from the supply of fuel at power plants and a decrease in pressure on the supply network from what is planned for consumption in advance. The government has taken several measures to counter this crisis, such as reducing government working days and cutting electricity for one hour a day, while setting schedules for the timing and places of power outages.

Petroleum

The oil industry revived significantly under Sisi, Egypt achieved self-sufficiency in natural gas, and stopped importing it for domestic consumption, through the development of discovered gas fields, mainly the Zohr field, the fields north of Alexandria and the western Mediterranean (Giza and Fayoum), the Atol field in northern Damietta, the Nourse field in the Nile Delta, and even Egypt turned to become a regional energy center by signing agreements with neighboring countries to import and liquefy gas in Egypt for export again, Egypt signed in September 2018 agreement with Cyprus to transfer the gas of the Cypriot Aphrodite field to the Egyptian liquefaction plants with the aim of re-exporting it, via a direct offshore gas line between the two countries. As for domestic consumption, the government has moved to accelerate the pace of natural gas delivery projects to homes in light of this contribution to improving living conditions and making it easier for citizens and at the same time saving the state's financial resources as a result of the difference in the cost of subsidies between gasoline and natural gas. As for the petroleum refining and petrochemical industry, it has witnessed remarkable development either by adding new expansions to already existing companies or establishing new companies and factories to achieve the highest added value from petroleum wealth.

About the new research agreements, the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum signed about 65 new agreements with investments approaching 15 billion dollars, with foreign international companies such as ENI of Italy, ENA NAFTA plain of Croatia, BP of Britain, shell of Holland, Apache of America, Petronas of Malaysia, Kuwait Energy, Dover of Canada, Rockhopper of Britain, Edison of Italy and Apex International Energy of America. On the other hand, the Ministry of Petroleum revealed that it has offered part of the shares of 11 companies under its supervision to the stock exchange for investment, as part of a government program to list companies on the stock exchange, including 23 companies, aimed at providing the necessary financing for those companies to enhance their competitiveness.

Agriculture and livestock

agriculture in Egypt, livestock in Egypt, and fisheries in Egypt
The national project for rehabilitation and lining of canals.
The new Delta project: for the reclamation of new lands in the western desert near the northwest coast, the total area distributed over several projects (the future of Egypt, the paradise of Egypt, and others) reaches 2.2 million acres.
Tushki Al-Khair project: to revive the Tushki agricultural project and reach the reclaimed area for agriculture to about 1.5 million acres in the New Valley.
Sharq Al-Awaynat project: it is an extension of the Sharq Al-Awaynat project to increase the reclaimed area for agriculture to reach 220 thousand acres in several stages.
The land reclamation project in Ain Dala and Farafra: is a project to reclaim new desert lands for agriculture in the New Valley.

North Sinai development project

it is a huge development project, part of which is an agricultural project to reclaim an area ranging from 456 thousand to half a million acres in North Sinai.

The new Egyptian Rural Development Project

 is a project to cultivate 1.5 million acres, in several stages.
Sanibel Sono project: for the reclamation of new lands in the western desert south of Egypt (East and west of the western desert road) using groundwater, the total area distributed in several stages reaches 850 thousand acres in the Aswan governorate starting from Kom Ombo and Banban to Edfu.
Land reclamation project in Beni Suef.
Land reclamation project in Minya.

Fish farming projects

fish wealth development projects such as (Ghalioun pond, Suez Canal fish farms, turquoise fish farming project

Middle East

Sisi accompanied by King Salman and US President Donald Trump at the Riyadh Summit 2017 in Saudi Arabia
In June 2014, the American newspaper Reuters published a report confirming that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates had provided financial subsidies estimated at more than $20 billion to help Egypt since the removal of President Mohamed Morsi. In 2015, Egypt joined the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia as part of its military intervention in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia

In April 2016, King Salman made a five-day visit to Egypt, which ended with the signing of economic agreements worth about 25 billion dollars by the two countries, in addition to the maritime boundary demarcation agreement, which recognized that the Tiran and Sanafir islands, which are under the administration of Egypt, are within the Saudi borders. It should be noted that the announcement of the signing of the agreement with its implications has provoked angry reactions in both social and traditional media in Egypt, where Sisi has been criticized a lot even by his supporters. In January 2017, the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the maritime boundary demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia was invalid, but this ruling was not taken into account after the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court considered the case, which means that the agreement will continue to be applied and its legal position will not change.

Syria

In November 2016, al-Sisi stated in an interview with the Portuguese channel RTP that "it is better to support the National Army, for example, in Libya, to establish control over Libyan territory, deal with extremist elements and create the required stability, the same is said in Syria and Iraq, that Syria is suffering from a crisis and our position is to respect the will of the Syrian people, find a political solution, deal seriously with terrorist groups, the unity of the Syrian territory and then the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war, we also approved the Russian and French Security Council resolutions because they request a ceasefire and the introduction of aid". The remarks sparked outrage on social media, interpreted as support for the Bashar al-Assad regime.

In December 2016, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad confirmed that Syrian-Egyptian relations are slowly improving, but they have not reached the required level, and that until this moment they are limited only by the security framework, and that there is no political consultation between the two countries.

Libya

On more than one occasion, Sisi announced Egypt's support for the Libyan National Army to spread stability in Libyan territory and maintain its unity. He also called for lifting the restrictions imposed on the supply of weapons to the Libyan army and stressed the importance of continuing efforts to continue the dialogue between the Libyan parties and upholding the Libyan national interest to rebuild state institutions and meet the aspirations of the Libyan people to live a decent and stable life. Egypt is seeking to reach a political solution by encouraging dialogue between the various parties in a way that contributes to the return of stability to this country and the preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It is noteworthy that in January 2016, Sisi received 20 young Egyptians from Minya governorate after they were freed from the hands of armed terrorist militias in Libya, who kidnapped them for 18 days, and the kidnappers were arrested in cooperation between the Egyptian and Libyan security services, and in February 2015, the Egyptian Air Force carried out raids on the strongholds of terrorist groups in Libya in coordination with the Libyan army, less than 24 hours after Libya. Similar air strikes targeting strongholds of extremist groups near the eastern Libyan city of Derna were carried out in May 2017, in response to the Minya attack that killed 29 people.

Yaman

In more than one regional and international forum, Sisi stressed Egypt's permanent and original commitment to supporting Yemen's stability and territorial integrity, and its continued support for the legitimate Yemeni government under the leadership of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Egypt's categorical refusal to turn Yemen into a foothold of influence for non-Arab powers, or a platform to threaten the security and stability of brotherly Arab countries, or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Egypt welcomes the efforts of the UN envoy to Yemen to resume negotiations by the basic internationally agreed terms of reference, foremost of which is the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanisms, the outcomes of the national dialogue and the relevant Security Council resolutions, within the framework of Egypt's support for efforts to reach a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and the importance of achieving consensus between the various political parties.

For his part, Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi has expressed on more than one occasion his appreciation of Egypt's position with the Yemeni people, its support for Yemeni legitimacy, condemnation of the Houthi militia, and serious participation in the coalition to support legitimacy led by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to end the crisis. Egypt is also hosting tens of thousands of Yemeni families.

Qatar

On June 5, 2017, Egypt announced the severance of Egyptian diplomatic relations with the state of Qatar in a statement announced by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in parallel with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain on charges of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and financing other terrorist groups.

Palestine and Israel

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discuss the Gaza ceasefire project with Egyptian President Sisi in Cairo
During the reign of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Israeli-Egyptian relations returned to their pattern before the January 25 Revolution and subsequent events, especially with regard to the Egyptian role as a mediator in Palestinian-Israeli issues and the Egyptian role in Middle East issues in general. Western press reports have confirmed the improvement in relations between the two countries. Egypt supports the establishment of the state of Palestine and the two-state solution through the establishment of a Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967.

During the first months of Sisi's presidency, the Israeli forces launched a war on Gaza, Egypt criticized the military operations in the Gaza Strip, stressing that" the repressive policies practiced by Israel are unacceptable, that the irresponsible Israeli escalation in the Occupied Palestinian territories, which comes in an excessive and unnecessary, and the use of military force that led to the death of innocent civilians is wrong"; Sisi also called on Israel to restraint to reach a lasting and appropriate solution for all parties.

Egypt later proposed an initiative for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip; the initiative was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas. Egypt had urged the world to intervene and stop the crisis, especially as efforts for a ceasefire had been opposed and met with "intransigence and stubbornness". Egypt has hosted several meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in Cairo to broker a ceasefire. President Sisi ordered the Egyptian Armed Forces to transfer 500 tons of aid consisting of food and medical supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The conflict ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on August 26, 2014.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Convention Center in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, March 13, 2015.
Egypt hosted the international donor conference in Cairo to raise 4 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros) for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Sisi described the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014 as a great opportunity to end the 66-year-old conflict, and also called on Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, saying: "I call on the Israeli people and the government: this is the right time to end the conflict...». Sisi blames the Palestinian–Israeli conflict for the spread of extremism in the Middle East, describing it as a"fertile environment for the growth and spread of extremism, violence and terrorism". Sisi has promised that Egypt will guarantee the rights of Palestine and will not violate the peace treaty, expressing his country's readiness to deploy Egyptian observers to monitor the movements of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

During the talks, Sisi also stressed that the Palestinian Authority will be based in the Gaza Strip shortly, stressing that the peace plans should ease the transit restrictions in Rafah.

As for economic relations, they developed significantly during the Sisi era, where for the first time in the history of Egypt it imported gas from Israel, as it was decided that an Egyptian private company would import Israeli gas in the first quarter of 2019, and the agreement provided for the supply of a total amount of 64 billion cubic meters of gas over ten years, the Egyptian authorities aim to be a Regional Center for energy trading in the eastern Mediterranean region, especially in light of Egypt achieving self-sufficiency from natural gas after the discovery of the Zohr field.

United States of America

Relations between Egypt and the United States witnessed tensions after the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, and the United States made decisions to delay the sale of some military equipment and parts to Egypt and also canceled the Bright Star exercises held periodically in Egypt and joint military exercises with the Egyptian Armed Forces. In contrast, Egypt has stepped up its tone with the United States, and the Sisi administration has taken unusual measures when dealing with the American administration, as it called on former President Obama to show restraint in dealing with the unrest in Ferguson, condemning the racism measures being applied in defiance of America, which was sending such warnings to the Egyptian regime regarding the issue of tightening the noose on Islamist demonstrators. Egyptian security men checked US Secretary of State John Kerry and his top aides through a fixed metal detector before a meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an unusual act of disclosure by a senior State Department official. Sisi also refused to attend the African Summit hosted by Barack Obama after he received a belated invitation. However, in June 2014, the US administration released military aid to Egypt for 575 million dollars. In September 2014, Sisi visited the United States to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York; a large media campaign was organized and distributed throughout New York City to welcome the Egyptian President. In August 2015 US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Cairo and stated "that there is a strategic dialogue between the United States and Egypt".

During the 2016 US presidential election, in which Donald Trump represented the Republican Party, he stressed that if he became president of the United States, the two countries would look to improve relations. After Trump won the presidency, Sisi was the first to congratulate him on the victory of Arab leaders.

The different style of cooperation between Cairo and Washington appeared under the Trump administration in more than one scene, including Sisi's visit to the US capital at the invitation of the US president in April 2017, and Trump praised President Sisi, saying: "Sisi has done a tremendous job in Egypt despite all these circumstances ."The two presidents also held mini-meetings on the sidelines of United Nations meetings and other international meetings, while Egypt's name was absent in the travel ban imposed by Trump on six Muslim countries, joint military exercises between the two countries resumed, headed by The Shining Star, the foreign ministers of the two countries as well as senior military and intelligence leaders exchanged visits, and on the occasion of Egyptian national holidays, Trump stressed the depth and strength of Egyptian-American relations, and his consort visited Cairo as part of her African tour. In 2019, following Sisi's inauguration of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, Trump commented on his Twitter account: "excited to see our friends in Egypt opening the largest cathedral in the Middle East, President Sisi is moving his country to a more inclusive future.

Russia

During the Sisi era, Egyptian-Russian relations witnessed a new impetus to constructive cooperation and distinguished strategic relations between the two countries, through mutual and frequent visits between the Egyptian and Russian presidents and senior officials of the two countries, to strengthen bilateral relations and strengthen the role of the two countries about regional and international issues, as well as to participate in the national events of the two countries. Sisi participated in the Russian celebrations of the seventieth anniversary of victory in World War II in May 2015, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev participated in Egypt's celebrations of the opening of the new Suez Canal. As for the political talks between the two countries, they were held in the "2+2" format, which makes Egypt the only Arab country with which Russia has adopted this formula and which it is adopting with five other countries, namely the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan. During Sisi's visit to Russia in October 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree to sign a comprehensive partnership agreement and strategic cooperation at the highest levels with Egypt. During the visit, Sisi also delivered a speech at the Russian Federation Council, becoming the first foreign president to deliver a speech there.

During some of these visits, several important agreements were signed, including the agreement on the establishment of the Dabaa nuclear plant, the agreement on the establishment of the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal axis area, in addition to giving the green light to the possibility of resuming direct flights between the two countries after an interruption that lasted for more than two years due to the crash of the Russian plane over Sinai.

At the military level, coordination and cooperation between the two countries continued, Whether through the signing of armaments agreements, conducting joint military exercises, or repeatedly holding a meeting of the joint Egyptian-Russian military committee.

Africa

Sisi made an African tour in 2014, his first foreign visit since taking office, in a short visit to Algeria to enlist its support to confront Islamic militancy in North Africa. Shortly before the visit to Algeria, Sisi had arrived in Malabo in Equatorial Guinea to participate in the twenty-third session of the African Union summit, where he delivered his speech there blaming the African Union, which froze Egypt's membership a year ago, Sisi also announced the establishment of an Egyptian Agency for partnership for development in Africa; and concluded his short-lived African tour with a visit to the state of Sudan. In July 2016, Sisi visited the Rwandan capital Kigali to attend the summit of the African Union at its twenty-seventh session. On the sidelines of the summit, he met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. It is worth mentioning that the trade exchange between Rwanda and Egypt in 2015 amounted to about 30 million dollars by Rwanda through its exports to Egypt, while Egypt achieved about 64 million dollars from its exports to Rwanda.

In August 2017, Sisi conducted a four-day African tour to four countries, which included Tanzania on his first visit to the country, where he held talks on anti-corruption, trade and economic cooperation between the two countries in the capital Dar es Salaam with Tanzanian President John Magufuli, and Rwanda, where Sisi met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the two discussed economic cooperation in the field of trade and joint investments between their countries, visited the Rwandan Genocide Memorial located in the jasopo area of the capital Kigali, and then Sisi visited Gabon on August 14. This visit marks the first visit by an Egyptian president to Gabon, and Sisi concluded his tour with Chad in the Sahel region of Africa, where he met with President Idriss Deby in the capital N'djamena.

Turkey

In mid-2013, after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian-Turkish relations witnessed a serious deterioration, due to the point of view of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in favor of Mohamed Morsi as the legitimate president of Egypt, calling for his immediate release, considering what happened in Egypt a coup on legitimacy, and Turkish minister of European affairs Egemen called on the UN Security Council to "take action" in Egypt. While in July 2014, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry accused its Turkish counterpart of provocation and interference in Egypt's internal affairs, warning of worsening relations, especially after Erdogan's statement about the Egyptian president that he is an "illegitimate tyrant". This led to a media scramble and a sharp stalemate in Turkish-Egyptian relations. In November 2013, Egypt forced the ambassador of Turkey to leave the country after Erdogan renewed the call for the liberation of Morsi

In 2014, during the Israeli war on Gaza, Erdogan considered that what Israel was doing on the strip came with the support of Egypt, which wanted to expel Hamas from the region; in response to Erdogan's statements, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry warned of further deterioration of Turkish-Egyptian relations unless Recep Tayyip retracts his statements.

The Egyptian foreign ministry further complicated relations with Turkey after canceling the joint maritime agreement between the two countries on the grounds of Ankara's interference in Egypt's internal affairs. In September 2014, Egypt's foreign minister canceled a meeting with President Erdogan after the latter delivered a speech in which he harshly criticized the Egyptian authorities at the UN General Assembly, while the Turkish President's adviser denied the existence of a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

The Sisi administration decided to cancel the Rolling Ships agreement with Turkey and prevent it from transporting Turkish containers to the Gulf countries through Egyptian ports. Egypt, in cooperation with its ally Saudi Arabia, launched an intensive campaign against Turkey, which resulted in it losing its non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council.

In 2023, Egypt and Turkey announced the restoration of diplomatic relations between them to the level of ambassadors, after almost ten years of rupture and after coordination at several levels, the latest of which was the exchange of visits between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

Women's rights

Sisi demanded the issuance of a law prohibiting oral divorce and that the divorce be in front of a legitimate author, which was opposed by the Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar.

Position of Minister

So far, 15 ministers have held ministerial positions under his reign:  Najla Al-Ahwani,  Nahed Al-Ashri,  Leila Rashid Iskandar, Ghada Wali,  Hala Youssef, Sahar Nasr,  Nabila Makram Abdul-Shahid,  Dalia Khurshid,  Hala Helmy El-Said,  Rania Al-Mashat,  Inas Abdul-Dayem,  Hala Mustafa,  Yasmin Fouad,  Nevin al-qabaj,  Nevin JAMA.

Position as governor

Sisi appointed Nadia Abdo to the post of Governor of Beheira, making her the first woman to hold the post of governor in the history of Egypt. In 2018, he appointed Manal Awad Mikhail to the post of Governor of Damietta, becoming the first Christian woman to hold this post.

Position of adviser to the president of the Republic
Sisi issued a republican decree on November 5, 2014, appointing Fayza Abu el Naga as adviser to the president of the Republic for national security affairs, becoming the first woman in Egypt to hold this position.

Opinion polls

In 2013, he ranked first in a poll organized by the American Times for readers to choose the person of the year, receiving 26.2% of readers ' votes.in 2014, the American journalist of Egyptian origin Ayman Mohieddin was selected in the same magazine among the 100 Most Influential People in the World. in 2016, he ranked 44th in Forbes magazine's list of the most influential people in the world, while in the same year, the Sputnik News Agency of the Russian government ranked him fourth on its list of the most active and visible leaders and presidents.

In August 2014, the pro-Sisi Egyptian Public Opinion Research Center "Basera" said in a poll that only 8% of the sample were dissatisfied with Sisi's performance and 10% of the sample said they could not determine their position. The poll showed that 78% of the sample said they would vote for Sisi if the presidential elections were held again the next day, while 11% said they would not. 89% said that there has been an improvement in the security situation after Sisi took office. 73% said that fuel has become available regularly since Sisi's election. At the same time, 35% of respondents believed that price controls had improved, while 32% thought that they had become worse. 29% of respondents did not see any change, and 3% of them did not specify their decision.

Sisi's popularity began to decline in 2016. A survey conducted by "Baseera" in April 2016, 22 months after he took office, indicated that Sisi had a 79% approval rating and 8% did not specify their position, while 13% disapprove of the president's performance. These figures indicate a moderate decrease from the last survey conducted in 2014. In October 2016, Baseera conducted another survey that reported that 68% of respondents support Sisi, a decrease of 14% from the last survey conducted in August of the same year, and it was concluded that the reason for the decline was the rise in prices. It was noted that Sisi's approval ratings are highly dependent on the age group, as the survey found that 82% of those aged 50 and over approve of President Sisi compared to 50% of those under the age of 30. While the "best political figure in Egypt" poll, another poll conducted annually by Baseera, showed Sisi's popularity declining despite his victory in the poll from 54% in 2014 to 27% in 2016. According to an October 2016 survey, Princeton University researchers found that "about 58% of respondents hold tacitly positive views towards Sisi".

In another study in August 2016, a recent field study by the Egyptian Center for Media and Public Opinion revealed that 74% of Egyptians reject the continuation of the Sisi regime, while only 11% want the continuation of the regime and 15% do not care about what is happening on the Egyptian scene. It was also noted that the rejection of the Sisi regime rises among the age groups under 40 and reaches 81%, which is relatively close for both males and females, according to the study "Integration of Egypt". In November 2018, The Washington Institute for Near East Studies website revealed the results of a documented survey on Egypt that showed the rejection of the majority of Egyptians for current economic and social policies and the rising resentment against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to Foreign Policy in December 2018, a recent poll conducted by James Zogby indicates that Egyptians are "deeply indignant about their situation".

Regarding the apparent inconsistency in the results of opinion polls, Mustafa Khodry, head of the Egyptian Center for Media and Public Opinion, Takamul Egypt, said that the difference in results in opinion polls is because centers affiliated with or supportive of any political system, especially if it is a repressive regime, always manipulate the requirements of the study to produce results at the whim of the regime. On the other hand, Dr. Majed Othman, president of Baseera, whose support for Sisi was high in his poll, believes that the discrepancy in opinion polls is caused by not using the proper methodology in the poll, pointing out that Baseera publishes the research methodology and has financial independence and does not follow any party, doubting the other polling centers. While the "Basira" Center has been described as pro-Sisi.

According to Reuters, during the Sisi era, thousands of opponents were imprisoned, and the government closed independent media and imposed a lot of restrictions on conducting opinion polls. The government warned citizens against participating in opinion polls a month after the pro-government Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (Basira) announced that Sisi's popularity had fallen by 14% in 2016.

Assassination attempts

On November 20, 2016, the Egyptian authorities announced that Sisi had been subjected to two assassination attempts, the first was when he was visiting Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah rituals, and the second was inside Egypt and both attempts were thwarted.

Amendment of the Constitution and transfer of power
On September 13, 2015, Sisi stated before the parliamentary elections that "the Egyptian constitution was written with good intentions, and states are not built with good intentions only.».

On November 22, 2016, Sisi said: "in Egypt, there is no room for a dictator, power will be rotated every 4 years. No ruler will be able to continue in his place after the end of his term, according to the law, the Constitution, and the will of the Egyptians. There is no dictatorship and there is no continuation of power forever, and this is one of the gains of the revolution, the Constitution, and the law. There is no room for anyone to stay in place for more than his duration".

On November 6, 2017, Sisi stated during an interview with the American network CNBC, "I would like to say during this interview that there is a very big development in Egypt regarding the status of the president, and what we must bear in mind is that there is no president who will take power without the will of the Egyptian people, and he will also not be able to continue for another period without the will of this people, in both cases it is 8 years, and I am committed to two presidential terms of 4 years, and with no change to this system, and I say that we have a new constitution now, and I am not in favor of making any amendment to the Constitution in this period - he added - The Constitution gives the right to the parliament and the president to request amendments, and I am not talking here about periods in the presidency, these are not going to interfere in them, that's why no president will be able to remain in power more than the time allowed by the Constitution and the law, and it is the people who will decide on this in the end, and it does not suit me as president to sit one day against the will of the Egyptian people and this is not just words I say only in front of television screens, these are values I embrace and principles I am keen on and any president who respects his people and principles will not stay one day in office against the will of his people.».

On June 11, 2018, after Mustafa Madbouly was appointed to form the government to succeed Sherif Ismail, Sisi stressed during his speech at the Laylat al-Qadr celebration that change should be given a chance, including his person.

Despite this, the Egyptian parliament voted in April 2019 to approve constitutional amendments, including converting the presidential term from 4 to 6 years and putting it to a popular referendum, meaning adding two more years to Sisi's current term, as well as giving him the right alone exclusively to a third term, which makes him able to remain in power until 2030. The draft justified the amendment by saying that" practical reality has shown the extreme shortness of the presidential term, "which is"inappropriate for the stable Egyptian reality". The amendments have been described as mainly aimed at extending the rule of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to Euronews, the amendments are widely considered to be motivated by Sisi and those around him and the security and intelligence services, who hold the real power in Egypt, and the proposals came after months of speculation that the presidency is preparing to push constitutional amendments through an "obedient Parliament". Opponents of the amendments say that under the presidency of Sisi, who was first elected in 2014 and was re-elected in March against a strongly supportive opponent, Egypt has experienced the "worst period of political repression in its modern history," and that his economic reforms have no longer benefited ordinary Egyptians, while supporters point to the improvement of Egypt's macroeconomic indicators and believe that he deserves more time to build on those reforms.

According to Ismail Azzam of Deutsche Welle, the amendments include powers "beyond what was the days of Mubarak," and there are those who believe that such an amendment may be a prelude to other upcoming amendments that will allow Sisi to stay longer in Egypt, or even for life, according to Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University. According to Amr Magdi of human rights watch, the authorities "want to stipulate authoritarianism in the Constitution, and to begin with the president must stay longer". Abdel Azim Hammad, former editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram newspaper, believes that the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is already stable without controversy or discussion, "but what we are betting on is that a process of pacification and political openness will occur, especially after the man achieved everything he wanted and settled in office without worry until 2030, this is the best of the political and intellectual elite in Egypt," agrees with Ammar Ali Hassan, writer, and political sociology expert, and believes that the constitutional amendments are "dangerous". According to Deutsche Welle, opponents say that a key achievement of the 2011 revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power, a peaceful transition of power, is under threat. They say that Sisi, his inner circle, and the leaders of the security and intelligence services are behind the amendments. This comes at a time when several human rights organizations announced their rejection of the referendum because "it is being held in an authoritarian repressive climate, based on the confiscation of another opinion, distortion, and intimidation of opponents". "This is part of Sisi's consolidation of power," said Stephen Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank in the United States. Opponents say the amendments concentrate more powers in the hands of a president whose reign, human rights groups say, has been marked by a "campaign to suppress freedoms". The international organization Human Rights Watch criticized the amendments to the Egyptian constitution as a "step to strengthen authoritarian rule" in Egypt. Amnesty International also criticized the amendments as a "complete contempt" for Human Rights. The German Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the expansion of the role of the executive branch in the amendments. ElBaradei said: "Egyptians have revolted against the' I am your supreme lord ' system, in which the president has powers contrary to any democratic system and remains in power forever and ever. Amending the Constitution in this direction is an insult to a people who staged a revolution to take away their freedom and a blatant return to the pre-January. We never learn and every time we pay a high price it takes us back!». Khaled Ali, Hossam Badrawi, and Alaa Al-Aswany criticized Sisi for being allowed to get a third term. The "25-30" bloc, an opposition coalition of 16 parliamentarians, expressed its rejection of the amendments, considering them "an infringement on the principle of the circulation of power". According to Transparency International, the amendments, if passed, will consolidate more power in the hands of the president, and is considered a "return to the manifestations of authoritarian rule," and contradicts Sisi's statements in 2017.

On the other hand, Mohammed Abu Hamid, one of the members of Parliament who supported the constitutional amendments, believes that the changes are necessary. He said that Sisi "has taken important political, economic and security measures, he must continue his reforms," he said, adding that Sisi's stay in power reflected the "will of the people". Sisi's supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms he has initiated. Egyptian officials deny that the authorities are cracking down on the opposition, saying that all Egyptians had opportunities to express their opinion on the amendments and that various points of view are represented in them, but opponents and activists say that there is a "broad crackdown" on the political opposition.

Criticism

The costs of national projects
Some media and journalists criticized Sisi's interest in building and developing new cities and roads at the expense of attention to the development of Egyptian human beings or the development of dilapidated vital facilities such as schools, hospitals, and railways. For his part, Sisi stated that the process of building the Egyptian human being is a community process and not a government process. The expansion of the construction of new cities aims to avoid the appearance of random buildings so that the supply of housing units absorbs the demand for housing, which provides citizens with a better life. And that the costs of new cities will be recovered again from those who come to them, while on the other hand, service facilities need to provide financial credits that are difficult to recover again. His interest in developing roads stems from his desire to alleviate the suffering of citizens in commuting and to provide new arteries to attract investments.

The statement of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that he is ready to leave his post provided that this is the desire of all the Egyptian people sparked a wide debate on social networking sites. Tweeters launched a hashtag group in which they were divided between a supporter of the continuation of the president with the hashtag "#peoplelove you, Sisi" and another demanding his departure with the hashtag "#deportyacessi". For his part, Sisi expressed his annoyance at the recent hashtag and deplored its appearance at a time when he was paying attention to getting the Egyptian people out of the state of need (moral, scientific, economic, moral, and social) that affected them in previous decades.

Human rights and freedoms

Human rights organizations accuse Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of suppressing the opposition and silencing all its spectrum.

In September 2014, Human Rights Watch criticized the human rights situation in Egypt under Sisi's rule at the beginning of the latter's visit to the United States the same month, where it criticized the existence of ongoing repressive campaigns on fundamental freedoms, including those necessary for democracy, including the widespread imprisonment of political opponents, mass death sentences, and the lack of accountability for the killing of more than a thousand protesters by security forces in July and August 2013

During November of the same year, the organization described that human rights had declined under Sisi's rule, citing the continuation of the protest law, the widespread arrest campaigns of political activists and the trial of civilians before military courts, and called on him to improve these conditions.

The reign of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also witnessed a significant increase in the number of people sentenced to death, with the number rising from 109 in 2013 to 509 in 2014.

Some sources revealed the existence of human rights violations during Sisi's tenure, as the number of journalists imprisoned reached 19, which is the largest since the September arrests in 1981 during the last days of the rule of former President Anwar Sadat, but the Sisi era also witnessed the absence of the phenomenon of killing journalists, which was repeated under former President Mohamed Morsi (one case) and interim president Adly Mansour, where 9 journalists were killed during his reign.

On September 1, 2018, Sisi ratified a controversial press and Media Regulation Law, which provides for a prison sentence for anyone who accesses a banned website to publish the information contained therein and provides for a prison sentence if the crimes referred to are aimed at "disturbing public order or endangering the safety and security of society or harming the national security of the country or its economic in the event of its establishment without obtaining The law gives the council the right to follow every personal website, personal blog or personal electronic account with several followers of five thousand or more," and the Supreme Council has the right to stop or block these personal accounts if "false news is published or broadcast or what calls or incites to violate the law or to violence or hatred".

On September 25, 2018, Reporters Without Borders condemned the confiscation by the Egyptian authorities of the equipment and equipment of the Masryoun opposition newspaper close to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, and the Masryoun newspaper was among more than 500 websites blocked by the Egyptian authorities, according to a count by the Cairo-based foundation for freedom of thought and expression. According to the 2018 international press freedom ranking, Egypt ranks 161st in a list of 180 countries. On 24 January 2019, Amnesty International announced in a statement that the intensification of repression of dissidents has made Egypt "more dangerous than ever" for those who peacefully criticize the authorities.

For his part, Sisi has stated on many platforms that human rights are indivisible and the matter cannot be limited to freedom of opinion only, and that the Egyptian situation must be viewed in a comprehensive human rights concept in light of the war on terrorism in a politically turbulent region, through the citizen's right to security, housing, education, health care, and job opportunities. Egypt is not like Europe or America, and the diversity and differences between countries and human diversity are natural, and trying to turn it into only one path is unrealistic.

Displacement of the population of Rafah

In 2014, after terrorist attacks in Sinai that claimed the lives of many members of the Armed Forces, police, and civilians, the Egyptian authorities resorted to establishing a buffer strip on the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. This necessitated the demolition of several houses in the area and the relocation of their residents to other areas. In 2018, the Egyptian army bulldozed hundreds of hectares of agricultural land and at least 3 thousand houses and commercial buildings, and the village of Abu Raad was completely demolished despite its remoteness from the perimeter of the buffer zone. Some have called this decision a forced displacement of the population, while others see it as an acceptable security necessity to confront a terrorist wave that has claimed many lives, especially in light of compensating residents for their homes, while Amnesty International described it as a violation of international and national law. For its part, the local authorities announced that they had prepared a questionnaire to find out the requests of the affected residents, where 65% requested monetary compensation, 29% requested a cash amount and a suitable plot of land, and 2% requested alternative apartments provided by the state, while several families objected to leaving their homes, and the authorities also announced that the houses under which smuggling tunnels will be discovered will deprive their owners of compensation. The Egyptian army also issued a statement in which it stressed that the sheiks of North Sinai expressed their understanding of the actions carried out by the army.

His family

Sisi is married to Intisar Amer and they have three sons and one daughter, Mahmoud is a military intelligence officer (married to Noha Tohami), Mustafa works in administrative control (married to Reda), Hassan works as an engineer in one of the oil companies (married to Dalia, daughter of Lieutenant General Mahmoud Hijazi, former chief of staff of the Armed Forces), Aya (married to the son of Major General Khaled Fouda, governor of South Sinai).