Sisi: People don’t eat for my sake

On the first day of the official campaign period, former Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was reportedly brought to tears as he spoke to a number of journalists.

According to the official website of the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, Sisi cried when reflecting on letters he had received from poor Egyptians.

“I get letters from people that can’t find food,” Sisi said. “And they tell me, ‘we’re not eating, but we accept that for your sake.’”

This is not the first time that Sisi has hinted that people go without food for Egypt. In leaked statements he said that he would impose strict austerity measures and that reforms would not be easy on the Egyptian people.

In a recording leaked by Al-Jazeera, Sisi asked how much the Egyptian people could stand, wondering if they would be able to give up air conditioning, food, or subsidies.

Sisi also spoke about the role of the media, saying that it hugely influences public opinion and is an important institution that the presidency should be in constant contact with.

Previously, Sisi has said that the military should be better at communicating with the media. “For one arm to be created, it takes time and effort. It takes a long time until you create suitable media influence. Are we working on this? Definitely. Are we achieving results? Better results. But we did not yet achieve what we are aspiring for,” he said.

Sisi’s official campaign tweeted that the media could unite Egyptians again.

So far he has avoided public appearances, and doesn’t appear in his first campaign advertisement. The former military man was never in the spotlight until his appointment to head of the Armed Forces by ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Most of his campaign to date has involved meeting with influential officials. This is his first major meeting with media personnel, and he is scheduled for his first interview on Monday with Lamees Hadidi and Ibraihm Eissa, to be aired on CBC and ONtv.