Egypt’s Al-Sisi sworn in as president

CAIRO. — Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi was officially sworn in as Egypt’s president yesterday, becoming the country’s second democratically elected president since the 2011 ouster of long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.Following in the steps of his predecessor Mohamed Morsi – whose ouster Al-Sisi announced nearly a year ago – the ex-defence minister took the presidential oath at the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) at an event attended by outgoing interim president Adly Mansour, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II.

The swearing-in was followed by an inauguration ceremony at Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo’s Heliopolis district in the presence of Arab, African and international leaders and their representatives.

Among the prominent attendees were leaders of Gulf states that strongly supported last summer’s ouster of Morsi and have since showered Egypt with billions of dollars: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman Ibn Abdel-Aziz, the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohamed Ibn Ziad and Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed.

In spite of almost a year-long falling-out between Cairo and Doha – a strong ally to Morsi’s now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood – Qatar’s emir sent a cable congratulating Al-Sisi.

Yesterday’s ceremony witnessed a low presence of Western leaders, who limited their representation to envoys.

One of the exceptions was Russia, which was represented by its Chairman of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin. The US sent Thomas A. Shannon, who serves as Counselor to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Addressing the attendees, Al-Sisi expressed his hope for “an internal and external renaissance for the country” and vowed to establish a “strong, just, safe state”.

“The new Egypt will be looking forward to contributing to implementing security and independence for the region,” Al-Sisi said. — Ahram Online.