Sisi conjures images of Mubarak in his longest speech ever

Amid hysterical spells of laughter that overwhelmed him at times, and waves of tumult and weeping that swept him at other times, coup leader Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi called on Egyptians, in the longest speech ever delivered by him, to listen to him and to him alone. He pledged that he would continue to construct in Egypt and build in it, as he put it, until his life or term end. He threatened his opponents by asking: “Who are you?” accusing them of conspiring against Egypt.

This came in a speech he delivered at Al-Jalaa Theatre, which belongs to the armed forces, on Wednesday in the presence of student representatives, the youth and public figures to mark the launch and inauguration of “Egypt’s strategy for sustained development … Egypt’s vision 2030”, a vision prepared by the Centre for Information and Supporting Decision Making that was created by the Council of Ministers during the latter years of deposed President Hosni Mubarak to prepare his own son Gamal to govern the country after him.

Despite that, Al-Sisi censured Mubarak in his speech by saying that his project “build your own house” was faulty, claiming credit for his own project by saying: “We do not work like that.”

In his speech, Al-Sisi warned, as it has become his custom, of a destiny which threats Egypt with the same destiny as others unless, as he put it, “their mass is united”. He accused Egyptians of not deserving democracy and called on them to donate one pound each morning. He praised his own accomplishments, which he said were not achieved over the last 20 years.

He also hailed the aid given to Egypt by Gulf states and asked them to extend the loan repayment period. He scolded his own government, in public, for delaying the implementation of some projects. He was keen to give an impression that he was keen to provide the youth with work opportunities. He said all of this in between long applauses.

‘Do you think I shall give Egypt up?’

Speaking about Egypt, Al-Sisi asked: “Do you really think that I shall give it up? No, I swear. No, I swear I shall continue to build in it, I shall continue to build in it and construct in it until the end of either my life or my term.”

In Gaddafi’s style, Al-Sisi swore that he would not leave Egypt and that he would continue to confront the plots to bring it down. He said: “I swear in the name of Almighty Allah that whoever comes close to Egypt I shall make them disappear from the face of the earth.”

Addressing the Egyptian people he said: “Listen to me alone and do not listen to anyone else. When I meet our Lord on the Day of Resurrection I shall say to him that I took good care of them.”

“Who are you? No one can come close to Egypt.”

“If only I could be sold I would have been sold for the sake of Egypt.”

He added rather passionately: “I swear, if only I could be sold for the sake of Egypt I would have been sold.”

An appeal for donating one pound each morning

Al-Sisi added: “I want every Egyptian who wakes up from sleep to say good morning to Egypt by paying one pound using his mobile.”

“It is too early for you to begin practicing democracy in an open sense … preserve Egypt and this social accord.”

“I am responsible before our Lord to say I took good care of the Egyptians … if you want to be responsible for Egypt with me, you are welcome. Otherwise, just shut up.”

He criticised those who attack the performance of the government that is headed by Sharif Ismail, who was sat to his right, saying: “Will you know better than me whether the government is good or not? I sit with them every day. What do they take in order to bear you?”

Early in his speech Al-Sisi said: “Today, I shall be talking a lot so as to remind you of our tale. I want to remind you once more of the tale. Because I always speak to the simple men and those with limited income … those who are keen to see their country in peace and security, and those who fear that their country may be lost from them. The rest are also afraid and do not know who the country may be lost to.”

‘Listen only to me’

He then added: “I want to create the best finance and business district in the Middle East within the new administrative capital.”

Then he suddenly asked: “Do you truly love Egypt? I say to every Egyptian who hears me: listen only to what I alone say.”

“I repeat once more, do not listen to anyone else but to what I say. I do not lie. I understand and I know what I am doing.”

“There is nothing to be said after what I say and utter.”

He added: “Let those who do not know come to me and I will tell them.”

He admitted that the security services perpetrated violations but he claimed those were unintentional and “I am not please with them”.

With regards the water crisis which many Egyptians are anxious about, he said: “There is something, which from a national security perspective I have no right to say … Isn’t there a dam that is being constructed? Please, whoever talks let him first know and learn,” in direct reference to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.”

Al-Sisi went on to warn that development in Egypt might not happen in 30 years. He said: “Instead of conducting a million studies of a million young men, I would rather work through the vision of economists and investors. I will specify the small industries that are appropriate for Egypt. Then I will make them entities while continuing to import machines from abroad. Then we bring 50 young men and we start the work. If we did not do this, it might take us 30 years. We look forward to being able to take our position like the other nations that have taken their positions.”

He scolded the government for not completing the project of setting up workshops for the youth in Dumyat. “Had you worked on Dumyat a year ago, it would have been handed over by now. We would have been receiving delivery of 1,000 workshops for the youth of Dumyat by now. According to the idea that exists now, I shall not work according to an old one, I shall make new one.”

He then passionately said: “I can make one million flats in a year and in two years for my children … Egypt is a big state.”

The fall of Egypt

Al-Sisi reiterated what he has said in every one of his speeches about the existence of danger threatening the country. “Our objective is to preserve the Egyptian state. For any state, its own national goal is for the state to remain.” He pointed out that preserving the state meant that Egypt was, in the past, exposed to real danger, and that it continues to be exposed.

“Inside parliament I spoke clearly. I said those who were wishing and working in order for Egypt’s destiny to be like the destiny of others, is this ongoing on or is it over? If it is over, that is good. But it is not over.”

“Work is still going on and efforts continue to be exerted, and plots are being hatched in order to bring Egypt down.”

He added: “Look. All the challenges and the dangers we anticipate are of no value except for the unity of the Egyptians which is now subject to an attempt to undermine it. They want the people to shred each other and the same with the state institutions and the components of society. Everything done before has not worked, terrorism has not worked, different pressures have not worked, let’s try other things. And this will not end except if we overcome it.”

Refering to the city of leathers in the Robiki region he said: “This speech is not for the government, I swear it is not for the government, this speech is for me.” He then tapped on Prime Minister Ismail Sharif’s left arm and drowned himself in a wave of hysterical laughter.

“The Robiki is designed in three stages, ask the army, I only have one stage, one year or one year and a half, and I may go along with you in two years.”

“When the people go into the city of leather, I am trying to prove my vision.” At this point he was interrupted by the Head of the Central Bank Tariq Omar, who asked: “Can I say something?” Al-Sisi replied: “No.” Then he set off into another hysterical spell of laughter louder than the last.

“The existing random project called ‘build your own house’, we don’t do that,” he said, referencing a Mubarak-era venture. He laughed for the third time while scratching his right eyebrow, then laughed again.

He also spoke about the recent project of housing the youth, and the launch of a number of projects inside 6 October city, describing the project as “the one that has the red carpet”, prompting the audience to laugh.

Charming the youth

Al-Sisi was keen in his speech to charm the youth. He called for the allocation of places for the youth to enjoy inside industrial towns. He pointed out that 300 billion Egyptian pounds ($38.3 billion) were allocated to them and warned that the failure to allocate places for the youth in the industrial towns will negatively impact the development plans involving small projects. He went on to say: “We want to put things in order.”

He interrupted the Minister of Youth and Sports, Khalid Abdel Aziz, while he was talking about his ministry’s projects and said to him: “Do you have a problem with the money?” The minister responded: “No.”

At this point Al-Sisi commented: “We should have a well ordered and well organised programme for the activities of our youth and for their sports throughout the year.”

Al-Sisi also extended a greeting to “brothers in the Gulf”, stressing that they helped Egypt a lot and stood by its people during times of hardship. But he asked them to offer him an extension to payback the loans handed to him in order to stabilise the country. “Until the crisis created for us is over; especially because foreign hands struck at the tourism sector in Egypt. We should stand up and build our own country, and win the battle against terrorism.”

He allocated a large part of his speech to talking about his accomplishments. “What was done in one and a half years of my rule no one could do it in 20 years. And this is thanks to you, the people of Egypt.”

He added: “I am happy to meet the Egyptians through you, and I would like to reassure them about Egypt. It is in good shape and in peace and no one will be able to break it.”

“I made two gas factories, and I shall not say where because of the people who wish evil on us,” he said.

The general budget is 850 billion Egyptian pounds ($108.6 billion), he said, adding: “This is what we can spend on Egypt.”

“We have a huge deficit that amounts to 250 billion pounds [$32 billion] during the current fiscal year. The size of public debt has multiplied over the past four years and has reached two trillion pounds [$0.26 trillion].”

Finally, Al-Sisi expressed his outrage over the accusations levelled at his government. He said: “He who wishes to understand a certain subject let him come to me. And anything you say you will be called to account for before our Lord.”

Translated from Arabi21, 24 February 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.