Egypt’s army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) walks with Gen. Sidqi Sobhi (R) after meeting with members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in Cairo March 26, 2014.
Credit: REUTERS/Egyptian Ministry of Defence/Handout

(Reuters) - Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Egypt’s first freely elected leader, on Wednesday declared his candidacy for a presidential election he is expected to win easily.

Sisi toppled Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule and has emerged as the most influential figure in an interim administration that has governed since then.

“I am here before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt,” Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. “Only your support will grant me this great honor.”

A Sisi presidency would mark a return to the days when Egypt was led by men from the military – a pattern briefly interrupted by Mursi’s one year in office after his victory in Egypt’s first democratic presidential election in 2012.

Among his supporters, Sisi is wildly popular. Many see him as the kind of strong man needed to stabilize a country in crisis. But to the Islamist opposition, he is reviled as the mastermind of a coup against a freely elected leader.

Dressed in military fatigues, Sisi vowed to fight what he described as a terrorist threat facing Egypt, a reference to militant attacks that have spiraled since he ousted Mursi.

“True, today is my last day in military uniform, but I will continue to fight every day for an Egypt free of fear and terrorism,” said Sisi, 59, who had to resign his posts of army chief and minister of defense so he could contest the election.

General Sedki Sobhi, formally chief of staff, replaces Sisi as head of the army.

Seeking to cap sky-high expectations, Sisi warned he could not perform “miracles” in a country of 85 million that is steeped in poverty. “I cannot make miracles. Rather, I propose hard work and self-denial,” he said.

Ahead of his address, state TV broadcast montages including footage of Sisi jogging with troops. He has been lionized by state- and privately owned media that are hostile to the Islamists.

He said: “We must be truthful with ourselves: our country faces great challenges. Our economy is weak. There are millions of youths who suffer from unemployment in Egypt.”

Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi is the only other declared candidate for the election. He came third in the 2012 election.

Sisi would assume leadership of a country that has faced unending turmoil since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Since the army toppled Mursi, Egypt has suffered the worst internal strife in its modern history.

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