Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

His Excellency
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
عبد الفتاح السیسي
Official portrait, 2017
6th President of Egypt
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2014
Prime MinisterIbrahim Mahlab
Sherif Ismail
Mostafa Madbouly
Preceded byMohamed Morsi
Adly Mansour (interim)
Deputy Prime Minister of Egypt
In office
16 July 2013 – 26 March 2014
Prime MinisterHazem al-Beblawi
Ibrahim Mahlab
17th Chairperson of the African Union
In office
10 February 2019 – 10 February 2020
Preceded byPaul Kagame
Succeeded byCyril Ramaphosa[1]
Minister of Defence
In office
12 August 2012 – 26 March 2014
Prime MinisterHesham Qandil
Hazem al-Beblawi
Ibrahim Mahlab
Preceded byMohamed Hussein Tantawi
Succeeded bySedki Sobhy
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
In office
12 August 2012 – 26 March 2014
Preceded byMohamed Hussein Tantawi
Succeeded bySedki Sobhy
Director of Military Intelligence
In office
3 January 2010 – 12 August 2012
Preceded byMurad Muwafi
Succeeded byMahmoud Hegazy
Personal details
Born
Abd el-Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi

(1954-11-19) 19 November 1954 (age 70)
Cairo, Egypt
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
​
(m. 1977)​
Children4, including Mahmoud
Parent(s)Said Hussein Khalili al-Sisi
Soad Mohamed
Alma materEgyptian Military Academy
Signature
Military service
Branch/service Egyptian Army
Years of service1977–2014
RankField marshal
UnitInfantry
Battles/wars

Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi[a] (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian military in 2014, Sisi served as Egypt's deputy prime minister from 2013 to 2014, minister of defense from 2012 to 2013, and director of military intelligence from 2010 to 2012.[1] He was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in January 2014.

Sisi was born in Cairo in 1954. As a young man, he joined the Egyptian Army and held a post in Saudi Arabia before enrolling in the Egyptian Army's Command and Staff College. Sisi received additional training at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in the United Kingdom in 1992, and at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2006. Before becoming director of military intelligence in 2010, he served as a mechanized infantry commander. He never saw active combat throughout his military service.[2][3]

After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and election of Mohamed Morsi to the Egyptian presidency, Sisi was appointed Minister of Defense by Morsi on 12 August 2012, replacing the Hosni Mubarak-era Hussein Tantawi. As the minister of defense, and ultimately commander in chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Sisi was involved in overthrowing then-president Morsi on 3 July 2013, in response to large-scale protests against Morsi's rule. Morsi was replaced by an interim president, Adly Mansour, who appointed a new cabinet. Demonstrations, sit-ins, and violent clashes between supporters of Morsi and security forces followed, culminating in the dispersal in August 2013 of pro-Morsi sit-ins which resulted in violent clashes that led to hundreds of deaths.

On 26 March 2014, in response to calls from supporters to run for the presidency, Field Marshal el-Sisi retired from his military career and announced that he would run as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election.[4] The election, held between 26 and 28 May, featured one opponent, Hamdeen Sabahi,[5] saw 47% participation by eligible voters, and resulted in Sisi winning in a landslide victory with 97% of the vote.[5][6][7] Sisi was sworn into office as President of Egypt on 8 June 2014.[8]

Sisi leads a government in Egypt which has been described as authoritarian by observers,[9][10][11][12] and some elements of his rule have been described as even more draconian than that of prior authoritarian leader Mubarak.[13] In the 2018 presidential election, Sisi faced minimal opposition from rival Moussa Mostafa Moussa, who had supported Sisi's 2014 bid, after the military arrest of Lieutenant General Sami Anan[14][15][16][17] who was barred from running for president due to still actively serving in the military at the time,[18] threats made to Ahmed Shafik with corruption charges and an alleged sex tape,[19][20][21] and the withdrawal of Khaled Ali and Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat due to the overwhelming obstacles presented, and alleged violations committed, by the elections committee.[22][23][24]

He was sworn into office for a third term on 2 April 2024, after winning the 2023 presidential election.[25]

  1. ^ a b Simon (10 February 2020). "South African President Cyril Ramaphosa elected African Union Chairperson as continent vows to "silence the guns," boost trade and close gender gap". Today News Africa. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  2. ^ Carlstrom, Gregg (18 February 2014). "Egypt's New Dictator Was Made in the USA". Politico Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Profile: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi". Al Jazeera. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Egypt's El-Sisi bids military farewell, says he will run for presidency". Ahram Online. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Egypt election: Sisi secures landslide win". BBC. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Former army chief scores landslide victory in Egypt presidential polls". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Egypt's Sisi set for landslide win in presidential vote". France24. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  8. ^ Kingsley, Patrick (8 June 2014). "Egypt's Sisi sworn in as president". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. ^ Truex, Rory; Tavana, Daniel L. (July 2019). "Implicit Attitudes toward an Authoritarian Regime". The Journal of Politics. 81 (3): 1014–1027. doi:10.1086/703209. S2CID 203513334.
  10. ^ Cambanis, Thanassis (22 May 2015). "Egypt's Sisi Is Getting Pretty Good … at Being a Dictator". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Egypt: A Move to Enhance Authoritarian Rule". Human Rights Watch. 2019.
  12. ^ Raghavan, Sudarsan (9 July 2020). "Egypt tries to silence its critics in the United States by jailing their relatives". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  13. ^ Al-Arian, Abdullah (27 February 2020). "Hosni Mubarak's legacy is Abdel Fattah el-Sisi". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Egypt: Planned Presidential Vote Neither Free Nor Fair". Human Rights Watch. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  15. ^ Michaelson, Ruth (23 January 2018). "Egypt arrests ex-general who stood for election against Sisi". The Guardian.
  16. ^ "Egypt's military arrests ex-general running for president". ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018.
  17. ^ Masr, Mada (24 January 2018). "Sami Anan's whereabouts unknown: Son". Mada Masr.
  18. ^ "Egypt's NEA says Anan removed from voter registry over violations, responds to allegations by Khaled Ali". Ahram Online. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  19. ^ Awadalla, Nadine (7 January 2018). "Egyptian ex-PM Ahmed Shafik says won't run for presidency". Reuters.
  20. ^ Hearst, David (9 January 2018). "Shafiq quit Egypt election bid after threats of 'sex tape' and corruption slurs: Sources". Middle East Eye.
  21. ^ Youssef, Nour (7 January 2018). "Egypt's Presidential Race Loses Popular Candidate". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Michaelson, Ruth (24 January 2018). "Khaled Ali withdraws from Egyptian presidential race". The Guardian.
  23. ^ Bower, Edmund (25 January 2018). "Egypt elections: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's challengers liken President to Saddam Hussein as they drop out of race". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022.
  24. ^ Sanchez, Raf (15 January 2018). "Anwar Sadat's nephew backs out of Egypt presidential election". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Egypt's president is sworn in for a third 6-year term after running virtually unopposed". Associated Press. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.


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