Former Deputy Prime Minister Hossam Eissa called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to announce his advisers and aides. “His regime is still incomplete and the situation is confusing,” he said.
“Sisi relies on technocrats and not politicians,” he added in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm on Monday. “He should refute this in public if it is not true.”
He also said that the fight against corruption in government institutions is weak because it is the poor who bear the bill of the price hikes. “This threatens the internal national front,” he said.
He said, however, that Sisi has broken Egypt’s isolation on the international level and cleverly retained its former influential position. “Egypt is back to the African continent, the whole world has recognized the 30 June revolution, the European countries are willing to cooperate with us in the economy, and he has led a rapprochement with Russia,” he explained.
“Russia is a superpower as evidenced by Bashar al-Assad still holding due to its support,” he said. “But this rapprochement does not mean replacing a friend by another friend as some claim. It means diversifying our international relations for the maximum benefit.”
Eissa agrees to the air strike in Libya, saying that it came at the right moment against a terrorist organization that is supported by major powers. “It was for the Egyptians not to feel they have been humiliated and that the blood of their sons is worthless,” he said. “Egypt should not stop at the air strike. It should support the legitimate authority in Libya in every way.
On Sisi’s efforts to form a joint military force with the Gulf countries, Eissa said this was the best decision Sisi took to combat the terrorist groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. “The Brotherhood is the mother of all terrorism in the world and not just in the Arab region,” he said.
On Sisi’s popularity, he said the Baseera Center for Public Opinion Research showed that the president’s popularity rose by 88 percent in a recent poll. “But from my meetings with the ordinary people on the street, I feel they are concerned about the future, which may affect his popularity,” he said.
On the president’s relationship with the new parliament, he expected a 70 percent majority would support Sisi in parliament. “But I tell Sisi the same thing I told President Nasser in 1966 that we are not here to applaud, for they way we support you is by criticizing you,” he said.
On the performance of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, he said he is a dedicated man who works hard. “His government is comprised of technocrats and qualified people,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
