Al-Sisi: Egypt not yet ready to become a democracy

Egyptian presidential candidate, ex-army chief and military coup leader Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi said in a televised interview Sunday that Egypt is currently incapable of becoming an advanced democracy despite the “political will” for that.

In an interview broadcast simultaneously on three pro-coup satellite channels, Al-Sisi said that the army owns two percent of Egyptian economy, not 60 percent as analysts suggest.

He said that army operations in Sinai and on the borders with Libya and Sudan cost approximately 1 billion Egyptian pounds per month.

He stressed that the army is a separate institution rather than “a parallel state” with an independent economy.

“The army does not rule. How could we think that the army rules Egypt?! It only protects, no matter who comes as president,” Al-Sisi said in response to a question on military rule.

Al-Sisi likened Gulf financial aid to the Marshal plan which “saved Europe” after the Second World War.