Sisi names general coordinator of his pres. campaign

CAIRO – 24 January 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi declared on Wednesday that Ambassador Mahmoud Karem will be the general coordinator for his presidential campaign and that Mohamed Bahaa el-Din Abu Shoka will be his legal representative and his presidential campaign’s spokesperson.

This was declared by President Sisi during the closing session of the “Tale of Homeland” conference, according to his official Facebook page.



In this regard, Karem said during an interview with Egypt Today that he is honored that President Sisi has chosen him as a coordinator, expressing his gratitude to the president for choosing him twice for that position.

He remarked that the previous presidential election in 2014 was led with transparency and abided by the measures put by Sisi, committing to the constitution and law.

He added that the upcoming presidential election will follow the same approach of the 2014 election, stressing that power has not changed the president, but to the contrary, he has become more committed to these principles.

He asserted that the campaign has certificates from more than 13 international organizations, which have acknowledged the transparency and the safety of the measures taken during the election; these organizations include the European Union, European Parliament and African Union.

Karem represented Egypt in many countries and international organizations as he was the ambassador of Egypt to the European Union, Belgium, Atlantic Alliance, Japan, the Duchy of Luxemburg, as well as the Security Council and the non-alliance meetings.

President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi announced Friday night his candidacy for a second term in the 2018 presidential election scheduled on March 26 and 28 inside Egypt.

The announcement came during Al-Sisi’s closing speech at the end of the three-day “Tale of a Homeland” conference, where the president and the Egyptian government presented an overview of projects and achievements made in different fields during the last four years.

Al-Sisi also showed his intention to run for president on his official Twitter account, calling on the Egyptian people to participate intensively in the upcoming election and give their votes to whomever they see most eligible.

A public campaign called Alashan Tbneeha (To Build It) was kicked off in September 2017 to demand Al-Sisi to run for a second term as President of Egypt. It witnessed a remarkable turnout by citizens and renowned figures of the Egyptian society as the signatures phase of the campaign was launched.

The campaign collected thousands of endorsements demanding Al-Sisi to run for the office, with several campaigns starting mass conferences gearing to support the president.

A set of parliament members decided to join the campaign as well and sign the petition; parliament member Farag Amer described the campaign as a popular campaign stemmed from the pulse of Egyptian streets to demand President Al-Sisi into running for a second term.

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced in a televised statement on January 8 that the voting process in the 2018 presidential election will start on March 26.