Sure to win, Egypt's president seeks re-election
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CAIRO -- Egypt's president has finally announced he will run for a second, four-year term in elections in March, expertly choosing to break the news and do some not-too-subtle vote-canvassing on live television before an adoring audience of government members, hardcore supporters and powerful media figures.
A general-turned-president with authoritarian practices, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's announcement confirmed what was long expected and paved the way for his virtually certain triumph in the March 26-28 vote.
The closing session of a three-day conference called to assess his performance in office offered el-Sissi a perfectly-timed opportunity to list what's been touted as his achievements. He used the platform to reach out to voters with a mixture of affected humility and fear-mongering appeals to national interests.
A comfortable win for el-Sissi is all but certain given that no serious threat to his re-election is likely to come from any of the presidential hopefuls announced so far. Moreover, el-Sissi has the vast resources of the state, including its media, at his disposal to promote himself and speak directly to voters. His rivals have had virtually no access to the media and are ruthlessly vilified or mocked by el-Sissi loyalists who dominate TV talk shows and newspapers.
Fielding questions submitted online at the invitation of his office, el-Sissi on Friday night dodged one on human rights, and another on the exclusion of political parties, but instead repeated his signature argument that his view of human rights prioritizes the right to jobs, decent housing and reliable education and health services.
But the president appeared more accommodating when he spoke of rights for women, whose support has been crucial for el-Sissi.
On Friday, he strongly admonished men who harass women, a widespread practice in Egypt that affects both homemakers and working women. He scolded harassers: "Shame on you!" He also praised women's role in families and, as he has frequently done before, spoke compassionately about his late mother, boasting that he helped her with house chores while growing up in Cairo's medieval quarter of al-Hussein.
El-Sissi appointed two more women to the Cabinet earlier this month, raising to an all-time high of six the number of women in his government.
