Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces promoted Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to the rank of "moshir" (field marshal) on Monday, the highest rank in the Egyptian army. This is a very nice parting gift for the person who helped Egypt part ways with the Muslim Brotherhood. The field marshal need not worry about civilian life, where he is also expected to receive the highest rank -- president.
Earlier this month, a few days before Egyptians returned to the voting stations to approve the country's new constitution by an overwhelming majority (97.7%), Sissi declared, "If the people ask it of me, I will run for the presidency." Sissi spoke with an accent reminiscent of Gamal Abdel Nasser. The results of the constitution referendum were reminiscent of the Hosni Mubarak days.
Now, upon receiving his new rank, knitting himself a new constitution and a suit, and with the current deputy prime minister and defense minister resigning from office, the army's Supreme Council has effectively given Sissi the green light -- the presidency is a mere formality.
Almost all who saw themselves as potential candidates, among them Amr Moussa, have vacated the stage to the field marshal. After the Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed by Sissi, the generals in Egypt today are essentially unrivaled. Sissi has turned Egypt's clock back to the days before the Tahrir revolution. The big stars in Tahrir Square today are Sissi and Nasser. We've gone back to the future, or, more accurately, to the future and back.
It is amazing to see the process the Egyptian street has undergone, specifically the liberals. The same Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and Arab League secretary-general, has suddenly become one of Sissi's biggest proponents. Moussa tells those who recall Sissi's use of exaggerated force against protesters that he "is not a dictator, but a patriot who prevented a civil war."
Sissi, to this point, has made no mistakes: He leveraged the office of defense minister, granted to him by ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi in June 2012, to become the next president in place of the same Morsi who has gone from the presidential palace to a cage in a courtroom.
As early as 2010, when Sissi was appointed head of Egyptian intelligence, effectively making him the youngest officer on the General Staff, he submitted a report to his superior, Gen. Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, warning him of a popular revolution in Egypt in May 2011. His amazing forecast was off by a mere 13 weeks. He was also the person who told the army's Supreme Council that Morsi would emerge victorious in the elections.
This ability to assess the situation should aid him during his tenure in office and help him decide, as he is obligated to do by the new constitution, to continue or resign after his second term.
Now that we are back to the pre-Tahrir days, or, those after the 1952 Free Officers' revolution, we can assume that staying or leaving will depend more on him than the constitution. Today, the festival of democracy has been replaced with Sissi-mania. Oh, how trends change.
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