Al-Sisi cites ‘national security’ for not sharing details of electoral platform

AbdelHalim H. AbdAllah
2 Min Read
president-elect Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (AFP PHOTO/STR)
Egypt's ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives his first television interview since announcing his candidacy in Cairo on May 4, 2014. Sisi is expected to win the May 26-27 election easily riding on a wave of popularity after he ousted in July Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. The 59-year-old retired field marshal, dressed in a suit and appearing composed and often smiling in what was a pre-recorded interview, is seen by supporters as a strong leader who can restore stability, but his opponents fear that might come at the cost of freedoms sought in the pro-democracy uprising three years ago.  (AFP PHOTO/STR)
Egypt’s ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gives his first television interview since announcing his candidacy in Cairo on May 4, 2014.
(AFP PHOTO/STR)

Presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a Sunday night television interview that “detailed schedules” are available for his projects but he would not share them for “national security” reasons.

He compared his electoral platform for the government’s five-year plan, saying that only the broad lines should be mentioned without details to avoid “schemers” being attracted to his development plan.

Al-Sisi also claimed that ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s administration had smuggled documents that contain “national security secrets” outside the country.

The former defence minister mentioned that his plan would include reorganising governorates to achieve a better distribution of the country’s resources; he added that the planning of projects would be centralised but the management of governerates decentralised, and that every governor would be supported by a team of “competent youth”.

When asked about the youth and what he has to offer to them, Al-Sisi described the youth as his “children” and vowed to back the formation of a political entity for the youth to ensure their representation in government. He added that he would integrate the youth into the political scene as aides and through development projects.

Al-Sisi’s interview on Sunday night, his third televised interview, was a shared broadcast between three private owned satellite channels: Al-Nahar, Dream and Al-Hayah. The first interview was a shared broadcast between private owned satellite channels Ontv and CBC, while the second one was broadcasted by Abu Dhabi based channel Sky News Arabia, owned by member of the Emirati royal family Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed.

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