- In a TV interview, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says it was his duty to run for President
- He vows to finish off the Muslim Brotherhood if elected
- Egyptians will head to the polls to pick a new President later this month
(CNN) — Egypt’s former military chief doesn’t mince words when he describes what would happen if he wins this month’s presidential vote.
In a taped interview broadcast on Egyptian satellite networks Monday, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to finish off the Muslim Brotherhood if he’s elected, arguing that’s what his country’s people want.
And he said he had no choice but to run for President.
“Due to the challenges facing Egypt and the targeting of Egypt from inside and outside of the country … any responsible patriot has a duty toward his country and its future, and has the opportunity to come forward to protect this country, and this people, and their future,” el-Sisi said.
The second part of the interview is due to air Tuesday.
El-Sisi deposed Egypt’s first freely elected leader, President Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood, last year following mass protests against Morsy’s rule.
The officer is popular among Egyptians who supported the army’s decision to remove Morsy from power. His supporters see him as the kind of strongman needed to end the turmoil dogging Egypt since a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of one-man rule in 2011.
But el-Sisi is reviled by the Islamist opposition, which sees him as the mastermind of a coup against an elected leader and the author of a fierce crackdown on dissent.
In Monday’s interview, he said there had been two attempts to assassinate him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to run for President.
“I believe in fate,” he said. “I am not afraid.”
He appeared relaxed in the interview, talking about his children and saying his wife had urged him to seek election.
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