Sisi’s new term and the need for public support

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will swear the oath of office today, which will officially start his third term in Egypt’s presidency.

This is not an ordinary event by all measures, given the Egyptian leader’s record at Egypt’s helm, the achievements he made in the past ten years and the hopes his country’s people pins on him and his presidency in the next six years.

When Sisi came to Egypt’s driving seat almost a decade ago, his country was undermined by all sorts of problems: there was chaos on the streets; the terrorists were lurking in Cairo and Sinai; the country was in economic ruin, and Egypt’s relations with all other countries were at their worst.

In his ten years in the presidency, Sisi succeeded in overcoming these challenges one after another. He managed to put his country back on the right track.

However, Sisi’s leadership style was unfamiliar among most Egyptians. From day one in the presidency, he was keen to make it known to everybody in this country that he cannot succeed alone and that public support and unity would be seminal for Egypt’s success in beating out its problems.

Now, as he starts a new term in the office of president, Sisi continues to espouse the same leadership style: ruling by the will of the public and depending on this public for success.

Wherever and whenever he appears, he highlights the importance of public support for the success of the reformist measures of his government.

The next six years are far from easy for Egypt and Egyptians. Egypt’s economic challenges are far from over. True, foreign investments have started trickling in in the billions of dollars. Nonetheless, Egypt will need to make the best use of these investments and remain attractive for foreign investors so that it can continue to be an investment magnet.

The current war in Gaza will eventually create new political realities in the region and at Egypt’s north-eastern border.

Threats to navigation in the Red Sea and on the way to and from the Suez Canal also need to be addressed efficiently and wisely.

Egypt’s water security also continues to be at risk, with Ethiopia approaching the completion of its Blue Nile dam and having plans for more Nile River dams that will significantly trim Egypt’s water share from the river.

If they mean anything, these challenges and others mean that Sisi needs public support as he starts a new term in the presidency to be able to steer his country through all these high waves towards safe shores