(CNN) -- Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced Wednesday that he would resign and declared his candidacy in national elections that are expected later this year.
Defense Minister El-Sisi, 59, must leave the army to run for president. He made the announcement on national TV.
"These recent years of
our nation's history have conclusively shown that no one can become
president of Egypt against the will of the people or short of their
support. Never can anyone force Egyptians to vote for a president they
do not want.
"Therefore, I am here
before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the
Arab Republic of Egypt ... Only your support will grant me this great
honor," he said.
In the wake of the
announcement, the office of Interim President Adly Mansour said that he
had promoted the chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, Lt. Gen. Sedki
Sobhi, to the rank of first lieutenant general.
The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported earlier that El-Sisi had met military leaders to tell them he was stepping down.
Quoting a military
source, Al-Ahram said the meeting would determine a successor to the
field marshal. He is expected to submit his resignation to Mansour at a
Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Al-Ahram said.
In the wake of the
announcement, the office of Interim President Adly Mansour said that he
had promoted the chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, Lt. Gen. Sedki
Sobhi, to the rank of first lieutenant general.
The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported earlier that El-Sisi had met military leaders to tell them he was stepping down.
Quoting a military
source, Al-Ahram said the meeting would determine a successor to the
field marshal. He is expected to submit his resignation to Mansour at a
Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Al-Ahram said.
El-Sisi deposed President
Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's first freely elected
leader, last year following mass protests against the latter's rule.
The officer is popular
among Egyptians who supported the army's decision to remove Morsy from
power a year into his term -- seeing him as the kind of strong man
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.
Egypt has suffered bloody internal strife since Morsy was overthrown.
On Wednesday, police
clashed with protesters at Cairo University who were demonstrating
against a court's decision to sentence 529 supporters of the Muslim
Brotherhood to death. In a separate report, Al-Ahram quoted the health
ministry as saying one person was killed and eight injured in the
clashes.
Monday's court ruling drew widespread criticism from international human rights groups. posted by Emanto Ngaloru March 27, 2014.
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