New Egyptian petition: Run, General, run

— Associated Press

A group of professionals and former army officers launched Monday a petition urging Egypt’s military chief, who ousted the country’s first freely elected leader, to run for president, highlighting the yearning for a strongman to take charge after nearly three years of turmoil.

The campaign for Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is propped up by a pervasive personality cult, based on his success in uprooting an Islamist ruling elite. Still, there has been a faint pushback from new political groups calling for a civilian leader for the nascent democracy —despite little public tolerance for criticism of the military and a deepening sense of nationalism.

In his one major political speech after removing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, el-Sissi said he had no political aspirations. Soon after, a military spokesman denied reports the general would run for office. But the spokesman added that nothing would stop el-Sissi from doing so if he retired.

The clamor for him to run in presidential elections expected in early 2014 has only grown, demonstrating the dramatic seesawing Egypt has undergone since the 2011 revolution toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, a former military man. In part the calls are fueled by a powerful anti-Islamist fervor after Morsi’s one year in office, when bitterness grew over what many saw as attempts by his Muslim Brotherhood to monopolize power and take the country in a more extremist direction.

State media and sympathetic television stations have helped fan the el-Sissi sentiment. Pop songs praising him and the military flood the airwaves. Posters of el-Sissi in his dark glasses and military cap are plastered around the streets. Videos of him addressing troops or training with them have become a staple on TV.

In the upscale Cairo district of Garden City, sweets shop owner Bahira Galal says she has been doing a brisk business with her new chocolates bearing el-Sissi’s picture.

“I support el-Sissi in my own way, especially after millions went out in the streets, everyone in their own way, supporting him,” she said.

Millions turned out for protests that began June 30 demanding Morsi’s removal, prompting el-Sissi to oust the Islamist leader. Morsi’s supporters have continued protests demanding his reinstatement, even as a security crackdown has jailed thousands of Islamists. Detained since his ouster, Morsi faces trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters, and prosecutors are preparing other charges, including insulting the judiciary.

El-Sissi has said he was only acting in response to the people’s demands, dismissing charges of orchestrating a coup. El-Sissi installed an interim, civilian government that is paving the way for elections.

El-Sissi has cultivated a popular image for himself — that of a strongman who acted to save the nation and, at the same time, a soft-spoken figure with the interests of the people at heart. That has helped restore the prestige of the military after the much criticized period when generals held direct power for more than a year and a half after Mubarak’s fall. Those generals came from an older generation than el-Sissi and have since been shunted aside.

The new petition campaign announced Monday brands itself “complete your good deed” — urging el-Sissi to take the next step and run. Organizer Rifai Nasrallah, a judge, said the goal was to collect 30 million signatures to convince the general to give in to “popular will.”

“Don’t forget that you told the Egyptian people to ask and you will respond. Here we are asking you to be president of Egypt,” Nasrallah said at the launch gathering at a Cairo hotel, addressing el-Sissi.