President Sisi answered citizen’s questions about his first four years in office during the session entitled “Ask the President” at Tale of Homeland Conference on 19 January 2018- press photo
CAIRO - 16 May 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi arrived Wednesday at the headquarters of the National Youth Conference in Cairo, where he launches the fifth edition of the periodical forum, according to informed sources.
Live streaming of the 5th edition of Youth conference
The presidency launched “Ask the President” initiative from May 13 -15 to allow citizens to send President Sisi questions and express their opinions. The National Youth Conference will collect such questions and the president himself will answer them during the coming youth conference.
The last National Youth Conference, sponsored by the presidency,was held on July 24 and 25 in Alexandria, and addressed top national issues in attendance of President Sisi.
Around 1,300 youth attended the conference, along with parliament members, heads of unions and universities, journalists, public figures, and representatives of the National Council for Women and the National Council for Human Rights.
Below Egypt Today starts a live update to the 5th edition of the Youth Conference 20:17
ِWishing all Egyptians and Muslims happy Ramadan. 19:57
A breakthrough in the Renaissance Dam dispute soon. 19:55
Egypt forever holds on to its Nile water rights. 19:51
There is a tangible progress made in the GERD talks and common understanding needs time to be materialized. 19:48
Khaliji countries' stability is vital to the Egyptian security. 19:40
Palestinian reactions to the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem are legitimate. 19:27
Egypt has previously warned against the negative implications of the American decision to transfer the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. 19:26
Egypt has long maintained a consistent policy of supporting and urging political solutions to the regional crisis. 19:23
The growing overpopulation is detrimental to development. 19:21
We are working on a plan to develop the Maspero triangle in an effective and 'civilized' manner. 19:13
Many of the state-sponsored grand projects will be implemented over the next two years. 18:58
Egypt is top African country in terms of providing its citizens with necessary support.
18:50
Governmental services are being provided to the citizens at half of its actual cost.
18:45
The price of the subsidized baladi loaf of bread is 50 Piaster.
18:40
If we had not moved ahead with the economic reform measures, inflation would have further intensified.
18:25
Sisi: The sharp increases in the public debt is caused by the interests of loans and public servants' salaries.
18:20
Sisi: The currently-implemented economic reform measures will make the next president's mission easier.
18:15
Sisi: "I come from a low-income family so I know and feel exactly what people are going through."
18:00
The "Ask the President" session kicks off.
16:10
Sisi: We are close to completing a developed and sophisticated infrastructure for the entire state.
16:00
Sisi: Egypt's production of dairy was only 106.000 tons, and we are aiming to rise to 124,000 tons by the end of this year.
15:45
Sisi calls on investors to participate in the informal economy, offering them a five-year tax exemption.
15:35
Sisi: Last year, we appointed about one million people in the administrative body of the state, but actually they do not have any serious or an added-value role.
15:30
Sisi: We do not make any final decisions without discussing them multiple times within the presidency and the cabinet. Our last decisions regarding education reforms should have been made earlier. The current education is not helping to prepare workforce suitable for the labor market.
15:20
Sisi: The unemployment rate has decreased to reach 10.6 percent, as it was 13.8 percent before.
15:10
President Sisi praises Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker's efforts to develop the sector. “He is one of the most noble and greatest men, however, we argue a lot during our discussions, as he demanded once LE 45b to develop the electricity sector.”
14:55
Sisi: The growth rate has reached 5.4 percent, which is a new record, and was not expected during the current phase. We hope to reach 5.5 or 5.6 in the next quarter.
He added that "time” has been a great challenge, and that the government cannot afford to delay any reforms, including increasing the fare of the Metro tickets.
The first line of the Metro (Helwan line) was about to stop and “get out of service” last year because it needed about LE 30b to raise its efficiency, Sisi continued.
Sisi: "We do not have the luxury of hesitating in making the right decisions for the sake of our country. Raising the Metro tickets is not a new decision; we have been discussing this for a long time, and we do not have any other choices."
"If I did not make these hard decisions now, no one else is going to take it; accordingly, we made a development plan for all of the country’s sectors during the coming four years."
14:50
Sisi urged politicians, the media, and citizens to discuss the issue of the booming population of Egypt, now at 100 million, saying the state has failed over decades to convince people to reduce the birthrate.
He emphasized that responsibility towards a child is not just feeding it, and that the requirements of education, healthcare, and jobs have completely changed and become expensive.
14:00
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi during the National Youth Conference May 16, 2018 - Press photo The second session kicks off under the title: “Youth Vision for Egypt during the coming four years.” The session started with a short documentary about the challenges Egypt has faced over the past years. The session will include an open discussion with several prominent economic researchers and professors about the economic reforms and demands. President Sisi is attending the session and will comment by the end of it.
13:10
Sisi: I do not think that the current political and partisan situation for Egypt is deteriorating. I believe we are witnessing an acceleration in the political environment, even if the final results are not “fully satisfactory” for us at the moment.
13:05
Sisi: There is a very thin line between "good intentions and destructive consequences of mean goals.” We need to be careful with our country while moving forward and calling for change. However, I affirm that I respect and love everyone (even enemies) and therefore I cannot accept any abuse for anyone.
13:00
Sisi: I approve of and support establishing a committee for political cadres to help create new and capable young people who can lead the country later, especially amid all the international and national challenges that we face.
12:50
Sisi addressing former presidential candidate Moussa Mostafa Moussa: “Thank you. All of Egypt thanks you for your keenness on your country’s image before the world. I was honored with your competition during the election and hoped for more competitors.”
12:30
Several demands have been made to President Sisi during the first session’s discussion by the prominent participating politicians, including:
- Establishing a General Policy Forum to discuss the parties problems and demands
- Handling the media framing for the parties roles in the society and political scene
- Reconsidering the parties banning from functioning inside universities, along with their inability to work on the streets due to the inability to extract the necessary permits
- Preparing rehabilitation programs for young people released per presidential pardons
- Forming a committee to set specific definition for political terms like “matter of national security”, as some media out lets use it with no specific regulations according to political participants.
- Reconsidering the current laws of pre-trial detention
- Establishing a National Youth Council to coordinate between the state and young people
11:45
Sisi attends an open political discussion with the participation of several prominent parties’ members, members of parliament, political researchers and one member of the National Council for Human Rights.
11:40
Sisi: "We do not interfere in the pardon committee’s work that was established since the first National Youth Conference for pardoning youth detainees. We ratify all the lists issued by the committee, and I call on the interior ministry to release all the pardoned youth as soon as possible.
11:25
Sisi listens to an analysis of Egypt's political history during the National Youth Conference May 16, 2018 with a picture of Khedive Ismail of Egypt in the background - Still image from Youtube Sisi listens to a quick coverage and analysis of Egypt’s political and partisan history by number of youth participating at the conference. The analysis included Egypt’s first elections, legal amendments, and establishing Egypt’s first parliament.
11:14
First session titled “Analyzing the Egyptian political scene through a youth vision” starts with a documentary about Egypt's political and partisan history.
11:00
The conference includes three sessions: The first one will analyze the current political situation, the second will explain Sisi’s vision for the coming four years, and the final one named “Ask the President” will include Sisi’s answers to the questions he has been receiving during the past three days.
10:25
"We need to talk about a lot of things today; we need to listen to each other for the sake of Egypt. What was established during the past two years is just one step on the country’s real road for development and reform," Sisi said in his opening speech
10:25
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi watches a documentary during the National Youth Conference May 16, 2018 - Still image from Youtube President Abdel Fatah al Sisi watches a documentary covering the projects launched during the past four years for the benefit of youth in the fields of politics, sports, social, culture and knowledge.
09:40
President Sisi arrives at National Youth Conference HQs to launch its 5th edition.
Comments
Leave a Comment