Op-ed review: Sisi’s messages interpreted as stern warning to destabilizers

CAIRO - 2 February 2018: Following President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s inauguration of the Zohr natural gas field on Wednesday in the Port Said governorate, Egyptian media and press have continued interpreting Sisi’s statements that he gave during the inauguration ceremony.

In state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, prominent poet Farouk Gowaida affirmed that President Sisi deserves another four-year term in office so as to continue his projects and achievements. Gowaida stressed that officials and opposition figures must be fully aware of foreign conspiracies that have been plotted against the Egyptian state.

He described the inauguration of Zohr field as a “historic moment” because it has been accomplished in less than two years. Zohr is expected to help Egypt restore its influential role in the region and in the global economy as well, according to Gowaida.

In privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, columnist Abbas el-Tarabili blessed the discovery of Zohr natural gas field. “In petroleum world, from six to ten years are needed to start production and this deems a notable progress,” he added.

“Concluding a deal in 2014, discovering the Zohr in August, 2015, and uncovering the early production in January, 2018, is a real unique miracle,” el-Tarabili wrote.

In Al-Watan newspaper, prominent Emad Eddin Adeeb highlighted President Sisi’s remarks during the inauguration ceremony of Zohr; which Sisi warned against attempts to destabilize Egypt’s national security.

Adeeb gave a warning about Sisi’s character. “Sisi is not a man who thinks twice of a decision whatever this decision costs if it is related to the country’s security,” he manifested.

“When Sisi says that the price of Egypt’s safety is his life, his message’s interpretation is definitely precise and clear,” Adeeb wrote.

In the partisan Wafd Party, Magdi Sarhan warned of the illusion of a “third revolution” and the rise of anarchists in reference to Sisi’s remarks in Zohr inauguration ceremony.

Sisi stressed that he is not a man of politics and diplomacy when it comes to the country. He affirmed that he will do everything he can to preserve and maintain the country’s stability and security, even “if it costs [him his] own life.”

“You don’t know me well enough. I will never let anyone manipulate Egypt's security as long as I am alive. I can ask Egyptians' mandate again to combat terrorism, but I will not trouble them to do so now,” Sisi said in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the Zohr natural gas field on Wednesday in Port Said.

In Al-Akhbar newspaper, Galal Dewidar criticized the weak influence of existed political parties. He asserted that parties must play a bigger role in forming the political life in Egypt. “Political platforms should be prepared as powerful and influential politicians are the future leadership of this country [Egypt],” Dewaidar wrote.

In independent Shorouk newspaper, Emad Eddin Hussein tackled the “weak” Arab support for the Palestinian cause and the Arab, Islamic and global “absence of solidarity” with the Jerusalem crisis after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city on December 6.

In Hussein’s opinion, governments should be held accountable for peoples’ absence of support and solidarity. “Elites, intellectuals and opposition groups, most specifically Islamic-oriented groups which exploited religion for its own interests, have paved the way throughout long years for Israel and the U.S. to create this current miserable situation.”