CAIRO- 25 April 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi assured on Tuesday that the 2018 presidential elections will be transparent, and that he would concede defeat in the race if Egyptians did not vote for him.
During the National Youth Conference in Ismailia, Sisi said he does not have the mentality of “either it is me or I will ruin the country."
“I will not fake elections to continue as a president and there is a higher election committee that will manage the process in transparent manner," Sisi added during the conference, which coincides with the Sinai Liberation Day.
In a discussion over rising prices, he said the government deals with the issue per a “free market mechanism,” and that it made the “difficult choice of real reform” to improve the economic situation.
At the beginning of the conference, the President greeted the veterans of the War of Attrition, and held a moment of silence to remember the victims of terrorism in the past few years.
In a Q&A session, a woman from North Sinai criticized the portrayal of the governorate as a hub for terrorists in a film screened during the conference, and cried over suggestions in the media that the residents of North Sinai be displaced to fight terrorism.
Sisi noted that the government does not publicly announce new projects planned in Sinai to protect them from being targeted by terrorists; however, he revealed a project to build a new coastal city in Port Said, and said a bridge will be built in five months to facilitate traffic in Sinai.
Further, Sokhna Coastal Road will be inaugurated “soon,” and the government is implementing a “comprehensive plan” to develop airports and seaports, according to Sisi.
He marked 30 June 2018 as a date to open the “biggest phosphate plant” in Egypt. For his part, Minister of Trade and Industry Tareq Qabil said a marketing company will be hired to help export the mineral.
He also proposed that 2018 be the year of people with special needs, and reiterated his belief that Egyptians do not treat women and girls properly, citing Islam as a religion that calls for “gentleness” with women.
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