Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the former military chief who removed Egypt’s Islamist president and who is now poised to win the post in elections this month, says the Muslim Brotherhood will never return as an organization, accusing it of using militant groups as cover to destabilize the country.
Field Marshal el-Sissi spoke in the first TV interview of his campaign, aired late on Monday, vowing that restoring stability and bringing development are his priorities. The comments were a seemingly unequivocal rejection of any political reconciliation with the Brotherhood, which was Egypt’s most powerful political force until Field Marshal el-Sissi removed President Mohamed Morsy, a member of the group, last summer.
Since ousting Mr. Morsy, Field Marshal el-Sissi has been riding an overwhelming media frenzy lauding him as Egypt’s saviour, and his status as the country’s strongest figure all but guarantees him a victory in the May 26-27 election. El-Sissi’s only opponent in the race is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the third-place finisher in the 2012 election won by Mr. Morsy.
Field Marshal el-Sissi’s comments were a stark signal of his intention to ensure the elimination of the 86-year-old Brotherhood as both a political and ideological force in the country. He is building on an unprecedented popular resentment of the group, after its rise to power in the last three years.
Asked whether the Brotherhood will no longer exist under his presidency, el-Sissi replied, “Yes. Just like that.”
“It’s not me that finished it, the Egyptians have. The problem is not with me,” he said.
The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies won every election following the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, dominating the parliament and capturing the presidency under Morsy. The Brotherhood’s electoral strength was largely rooted in a widespread grassroots organization it had built up for decades despite being banned under Mubarak.
But after a year in office, millions joined protests demanding Mr. Morsy’s removal, accusing his Brotherhood of monopolizing power and seeking to change the country’s identity along the lines of Brotherhood ideology prompting el-Sissi’s ouster of Mr. Morsy.
Since then, there’s been no sign of reconciliation between the sides. The Brotherhood and its allies have denounced Mr. Morsy’s removal as a military coup that has wrecked democracy, rejecting the new government and persisting in a campaign of street protests.
Security forces have waged a ferocious crackdown on Mr. Morsy supporters, clashing with protesters. Hundreds have been killed and more than 16,000 members of the Brotherhood and other Islamists have been arrested. The Brotherhood’s leader, Mohammed Badie, has been sentenced to death though the sentence can be appealed and he and Morsy and other senior Brotherhood figures face a string of trials. The government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Under the weight of the crackdown, the pro-Morsy protests have waned.
At the same time, Islamic militant groups have stepped up bombings and shootings against police and the military in retaliation for Mr. Morsy’s removal.
In the joint interview with two private Egyptian TV stations CBC and ONTV, Field Marshal el-Sissi directly accused the Brotherhood of being behind the campaign of bombings and shootings. He said the movement “created” Islamic militant groups to use as “covers to fight from behind ... to keep the movement away from any accusations.” He said a senior Brotherhood leader had warned him that if he removed Morsy, extremist fighters from Afghanistan and elsewhere would come to Egypt to fight.
The Brotherhood denies any connection to militants.
“The thought structure of these groups says that we are not true Muslims, and they believed conflict was inevitable because they consider us non-believers,” he said. “It will not work for there to be such thinking again.”
The 59-year-old el-Sissi retired from the military in March with the rank of field marshal to launch his candidacy. The one-hour interview was his first direct address to the public since he declared his intention to run and after the start of the official campaigning on May 2.
A second part of the interview, likely to go into more details about his economic program, is to be aired on Tuesday.
El-Sissi’s candidacy has also raised concerns among some secular activists over a return of the autocracy that reigned in Egypt under Mubarak, who was also a veteran of the military. A number of prominent secular activists have been arrested in recent months, several of them under a draconian new law banning all protests without a police permit.
El-Sissi defended the protest law, saying it was needed to prevent further instability and insisting that police will give permits to those who seek to hold peaceful demonstrations.
“We are talking about a country going to waste. People must realize this and support us. Whoever imagines otherwise, only wants to sabotage Egypt and this won’t be allowed,” he said, losing his temper for the first time during the interview.
“This chaos will bring it down, because of this irresponsible protesting,” he said.
El-Sissi spent a part of the interview discussing his family, explaining that he met his wife as a teenager and promised her marriage when he was admitted to military college. He spoke fondly of her as a major supporter of his decision to run for president. She told him he had no choice, he said, telling him, “We of course love you, but this nation will be lost.”
U.S. trained el-Sissi said the military will not play a role in politics under his presidency and promised to consult with political factions. Asked if he will accept criticism, he responded with a smile, “I will put up with it” but then said he won’t accept “offenses.”
In one Cairo neighborhood, Sayeda Zeinab, el-Sissi supporters organized showings of the interview at local coffeehouses, where dozens gathered to watch. During advertising breaks, they sang and clapped to pro-military anthems.
“After God, I worship him,” 65-year-old Alia el-Sayed Saad said, raising two pictures of el-Sissi. “We are not ignorant, we can differentiate between the wicked and the honest.”
Turnout at the cafes was not high, however and nearby coffe shops with TVs showing a soccer game were packed with larger crowds.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian court has banned officials from the country’s former ruling party under ousted President Hosni Mubarak from running in elections.
The ban comes as Egypt prepares for presidential elections later this month. Former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi who removed Islamist president and Mubarak’s successor, Mohamed Morsy is poised to win that vote.
The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on Tuesday ruled that leaders of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party cannot run in any presidential, parliamentary or local city council elections.
The ruling is binding until a higher tribunal issues a final verdict in the matter.
It closes the door, at least for the time being, to Mubarak party officials returning to the political scene.
The NDP was dissolved just months after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster in the 2011 popular uprising.
