Supporters of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El Sisi have launched a campaign aiming to gather 40 million signatures in order to extend his presidential term to eight years instead of four without going through the election process. The campaign, launched from the Minya governorate in Upper Egypt, has thus far gathered 120,000 signatures, according to campaign founder Yasser El Turkai. “Four years is not a long enough period to finish building a strong country, to judge the achievement of a president, and to fight terrorism,” privately- owned Youm7 quoted El Turkai as saying. He added that a board of directors has been formed to coordinate with all the governorates of the country and to gather signatures from citizens. The campaign dates back to 2015, when El Turkai launched a Facebook page named “Collecting signatures to extend the presidential term to eight years.” But it was not until last Saturday that an official petition was made public. “I want the president to complete four more years without elections in order to fulfill some of the economic and infrastructural projects, and the new administrative capital,” said El Turkai in a phone-in to…
Popular Campaign in Egypt Calls for Extension of Sisi’s Presidential Term
August 10, 2016
