A relentless anti-militancy warrior and strong reformist

Since becoming Egypt’s president in 2014, Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, a former general, has stepped up a military campaign against Islamist militants. He took office after a landslide election win amid wide popularity he gained for having, as a defence minister, led the army’s 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following mass protests against his rule. Portraying himself as a moderate Muslim, Al Sissi has repeatedly urged Muslim scholars to reform religious teachings in order to help fight violent militancy.

He always peppers his public addresses with quotes from the Quran. While fighting terrorism, Al Sissi has been keen to heal the Egyptian economy battered by the unrest, which followed the 2011 uprising that forced president Hosni Mubarak out of power, and Mursi’s incompetent and divisive management of the country.

Al Sissi has launched a series of major development projects nationwide, including an expansion of the Suez Canal, a key waterway. He espouses an ambitious economic reform programme that has secured Egypt a badly needed loan of $12 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Critics, however, say the reforms have exacted a high price from ordinary Egyptians, who have yet to recover from the 2016 float of the local pound and cuts in state subsidies. The measures have hiked prices of different goods and services in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, with nearly 95 million inhabitants.

On several occasions, Al Sissi has thanked his compatriots for their “understanding of and patience over these reforms”. He has said the measures were necessary and overdue. As president, Al Sissi is credited with re-establishing security in Egypt. His backers see him as a guarantee of stability amid regional turbulence.