Egypt's Sisi seeks to ease concerns over freedoms

Egypt's presidential frontrunner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi sought to easeconcerns Monday that he would restrict freedoms, insisting that democraticprinciples and human rights were guaranteed under the new constitution. Sisi, who is expected to easily win the May 26-27 election, said last week thatdemocratic aspirations expressed in mass protests since 2011 were affectingnational security and slowing a much-needed economic recovery."The future of freedoms and democracy is protected by the constitution which thepeople agreed on," Sisi told a gathering of intellectuals and thinkers on Monday, astatement from his campaign office said.Egyptians adopted a new constitution in January after a previous version wassuspended when Sisi ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement had boycotted a referendum on the newconstitution. Sisi said he understood the concerns of intellectuals, saying there was "no place fora religious or military state" in Egypt."It is always a difficult equation a state faces: how to achieve sufficient security thatis satisfactory enough for the people without breaching the principles of democracyand human rights and without oppressing the innocent," the retired field marshalsaid.At a round-table discussion with Egyptian journalists last week, Sisi had warned that democratic aspirations were hindering national security."You write in the newspaper, 'No voice is louder than freedom of speech!' What isthis?" Sisi asked them."What tourist would come to a country where we have demonstrations like this? Areyou forgetting that there are millions of people and families who can't earn their living because of the protests? It is one of the manifestations of instability."He also said that given the situation in Egypt, which cannot be compared to Westerndemocracies, it could take "20 to 25 years to achieve true democracy" in the Arabworld's most populous country.Since 2011, Egypt has seen two presidents ousted after mass street protests, a deadlycrackdown on protesters and militant attacks that have left it deeply polarised andthe economy in a shambles.The situation was further aggravated when the interim authorities installed by Sisipassed a law banning all but police-sanctioned protests.Several prominent figures from the 2011 anti-Hosni Mubarak uprising have beenjailed for breaking the protest law, and a brutal government crackdown on Morsisupporters has killed more than 1,400 people since his ouster.