Sisi to follow Egypt’s inauguration tradition

Following the announcement on Tuesday of Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt’s next president, the former army chief will likely abide by a clearly defined protocol of speeches and ceremonies before launching his term in office.

He was elected with 96.7% of the vote against his only contender Hamdeen Sabahi.

By tradition, Egyptian presidents since 1956 have formally taken the oath in front of the People’s Assembly, also known as the lower house of parliament.

However, in 2013 interim President Adly Mansour dissolved the lower house, so Sisi’s swearing-in ceremony will take place in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court - Egypt’s highest court- as per the constitution.

Ousted President Mohammad Mursi was also sworn in front of the court, because at the time the lower house had been removed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces following the 2011 ouster of Husni Mubarak.

Like all previous presidents, during the ceremony Sisi will vow to “respect the country’s constitution that preserves the independence and territorial integrity” of Egypt.

His swearing-in will be followed by an evening inaugural ceremony at Qoba palace in eastern Cairo.

The ceremony will be followed by a reception to be attended by kings and heads of states at Cairo's Ittihadiya palace, the state news agency MENA reported Wednesday.

A second reception will be held at 1600 GMT at the capital's Kubba palace, to be attended by around 1,000 guests from several political groups, MENA added.

Mansour, who served as the country’s leader since the overthrow of Mursi in July 2013, took the oath of office at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state TV.

He will be present in the hall as a guest, not as a member of the court's General Assembly.

Ties with Russia

Arab leaders and other foreign dignitaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin - one of the first to congratulate Sisi on his election victory - will attend the ceremony, reported the Cairo-based daily Al-Youm al-Sabee.

Nabil Sharaf al-Din, a political analyst and specialist in Islamic affairs, told Al Arabiya News that Putin’s presence “shows the reshaping of Egypt’s ties with the West.”

Egypt “doesn’t limit its relations with some specific countries,” Din added, referring to the United States.

“The increasingly warm relations” between Egypt and Russia “gives great hope for future cooperation between Moscow and Cairo,” he said.

This would not lead to a severing of ties between Egypt and the United States, Din added.

Sisi and Putin met earlier this year when their two countries came to an initial arms agreement.
Threats

Hani Abdel Latif, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told Al Arabiya News that threats against Sisi are being dealt with.

“We’ve taken all the necessary measures to be able to deal with any kind of threats or incidents,” Abdel Latif said.

Militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis tweeted last week: “Will Sisi last till he takes over power? And if he does, will he remain?”