Sisi receives citizens’ questions online starting Wednesday

CAIRO – 10 January 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will receive questions from citizens starting Wednesday on the “Ask the President” initiative website, announced the official Facebook page of President Sisi.

Egyptian citizens can now log onto the Ask the President website and ask President Sisi about any topic they wish, from January 10 to 15. The president will answer the questions during the next conference.

Sisi had initially launched this initiative through his official page on Facebook during the fourth National Youth Conference held in Ismailia in April 2017. He answered the questions that concerned the public opinion during the past youth conferences, in a special session entitled "Ask the President".

According to the president’s official Facebook page, Sisi is keen to “build bridges of dialogue and to enhance trust between the citizens and the political leadership.”

Over the last year and a half, President Sisi held six national and international youth conferences under his auspices.

In October 2016, Egypt held the country's first National Youth Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh with the participation of 3,000 youth, President Sisi, and a number of officials and experts.

In December 2016, the second National Youth Conference was held in Cairo.

In January 2017, the third National Youth Conference was held in Aswan.

In April 2017, the Egyptian city of Ismailia hosted the fourth National Youth Conference.

In July 2017, the last and fourth National Youth Conference was held in Alexandria. All conferences were attended by Sisi and a number of officials.

In November 2017, Egypt held its first World Youth Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh under the theme “We Need to Talk”, which attracted over 3,000 participants from all over the world.

In October 2016, President Sisi announced that a presidential pardon committee will be formed, headed by political thinker Osama al-Ghazaly Harb, for pardoning detainees with charges pending further investigation.

A fourth list of pardons is supposedly underway following Sisi’s permission in the World Youth Conference (WYF). President Sisi issued three previous pardons for hundreds of prisoners who had received final prison sentences in protest-related cases.

A public campaign entitled “Alashan Tbneeha” (To Build It) is calling for President Sisi to run for a second term as the head of state.

“The campaign collected 12,132,460 valid signatures, while a total of 239,361 signed forms were null and void,” announced one of the campaign’s founders, Mohamed al-Garhy.

Voting in the 2018 presidential election in Egypt will start on March 26, announced the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in a televised statement on Monday.

60 million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the election between March 26 and 28 in Egypt, while expatriates will vote between March 16 and 18, said NEC Chairman Lasheen Ibrahim in a press conference.

The final list of candidates will be announced on February 24, he added, noting that the deadline for any candidate to retreat will be on March 1. The primary results of the first round of the election will be announced on March 29, when decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, will be made.

The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2.

Human rights lawyer Khaled Ali, who ran for president in 2012, announced in November 2017 that he is running in the presidential election.

Earlier this week, former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik reversed his previous decision to run for president, acknowledging he is not the "ideal person" to lead the nation at the moment.