Foreign Affairs magazine said that after a year of deposing President Mohamed Morsy through the military, the new regime, headed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is taking shape but his presidency will have a short honeymoon phase with the Egyptian people.
The magazine said in a report on Thursday that Sisi knows what he is doing and that he is not corrupt, which is why Egyptians are loyal to him, but the economic problems inherited to him will weigh him down heavily.
The magazine also said that Sisi stressed in his speeches that his mission is to reform the economy that has been suffering from three years of turmoil, prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from coming back to power and restore the Egyptian state's prestige.
The magazine considered the last mission as the key to understanding the future of Egypt, as it has been repeated in the media since 2011 in order to reduce popular discontent and promote the idea that exercising state authority firmly would help the country move forward.
It said Sisi’s charisma would help him in the beginning, but it is whether his government would meet the aspirations of the people for services and job opportunities that counts.
The magazine added that if Sisi is serious about investing in infrastructure, he would have to confront certain self-interests of his allies, because wages, subsidies and debt interests are affecting the budget.
The editorial also stated that Sisi was right when he said tourism will recover once there is stability.
The magazine also said that Sisi still does not have a ruling party and that the low turnout at the presidential elections showed that he is not as popular as he thought and that he needs more political clout.
The magazine concluded that the economy that Sisi inherited from Mubarak is unlikely to meet the expectations of the people, especially that he does not have the mechanisms to secure his rule as Mubarak was able to do for 30 years.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
