Aboul Fotouh accuses Al-Sisi of hijacking Egypt's Presidency

Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, former Egyptian presidential candidate and co-founder of the Strong Egypt Party, accused defence minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of hijacking the Presidency from Egypt’s legitimate President, Mohammed Morsi.

Aboul Fotouh advised Al-Sisi during an interview with Hayat TV on Wednesday not to run for the presidency in order to preserve the military establishment’s status of respectability.

Aboul Fotouh, who has not announced whether or not he intends to run for the Presidency, said he believes that the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi in a military coup on July 3rd effects two very important establishments, the military establishment and the Islamic movement, by forcing them to be partisan and using religious clerics to legitimise the military coup against the elected President.

Aboul Fotouh said “President Morsi was unable to protect himself when influential former regime figures conspired against him and prevented him from fulfilling the Egyptian people’s demands”.

When asked whether deposed President Morsi would have imprisoned Al-Sisi and journalists, Aboul Fotouh said “President Morsi could not protect his office, the gates of his Presidential Palace or even his own party where many of their supporters were murdered and 27 centres were burned and therefore, could not arrest Al-Sisi”. Aboul Fotouh denounced the military coup saying, “the protests are our constitutional right to object to the President’s performance to help him improve his work. We must give him a chance because he was elected and has the right to serve his presidential term”.