Egyptian MP blames government for Sisi’s popularity decline

Egyptian parliamentarian Emad Gad blamed the government for taking the recent economic decisions, including the liberation of the exchange rate and lifting subsidies on fuel prices, saying they came in coincidence with the notable decline in salaries.

He added, in an interview with “Arabs Today”, that the Egyptian people suffer from tough the current economic situation due to the increasing commodities and high rate of unemployment. He expressed his dissatisfaction over the performance of both the government and parliament, saying that they performed a major role in the drop in the popularity of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

He added, “What I say about the decline of president’s popularity comes upon the polls conducted by a large number of high-profile centers. According a poll conducted by “Basira” Center, he said, Sisi’s popularity declined from 85 to 65 percent among the Egyptian people. He stressed the need for studying the reasons behind such decline.

He stressed that the current economic position comes as a result of policies adopted for years, saying that he expressed support for the economic decisions before, while he criticizes the government for not considering the repercussions of such decisions and the ways to treat them.

Regarding future relation between Egypt and the U.S under Trump, Gad said the Egyptian government has a rare opportunity to develop its relations with Washington. He added, “The current U.S Administration gives priority to terrorism combat, as we should seize the opportunity to cooperate with the U.S, especially that we fight against the terrorist groups three years ago.”

He expected that the U.S Administration will delay its decision to transfer its embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem upon pressure from the American institutions. He added that the U.S administration will delay the decision for six months like what did the previous administrations.

He underlined the negative repercussions of such a decision, if implemented, on the American interests, saying that it would allow the emergence of new wave of terrorist groups. He stressed that such developments would harm the U.S interests in the Middle East and the Arab allies of the world’s major power.

He added that the new U.S Administration is scheduled to issue a legislation to list Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, saying that such legislation would pave the way for undermining the group’s influence in Egypt and the Arab world. He stressed that the U.S current vision views the group, founded in 1928, as the mother group of different extremist organizations in the region, including ISIS.