2030.. Will Egypt pass the most difficult test of authority?

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In my opinion, the most important thing that President Sisi said was his assertion that the year 2030 will be the end of his rule, and that the matter is settled and will not be open to discussion.

This speech deserves to be considered... away from the usual applause, and also away from ready skepticism about everything, because the value of the decision, if its implementation is completed, goes beyond the name of the president himself, because we are facing the opportunity for Egypt to establish a rule that its future needs: that the end of the term of government be a known date for which the state prepares, and for which society is reassured.

Countries need to know how to transfer responsibility as much as they need to know who bears it, and I see that President Sisi has an opportunity to create one of the most important aspects of his political legacy: to leave a state capable of continuing after him, institutions that know their duty, and a political life that produces people who deserve responsibility.

But here our responsibility begins. Whoever imagines that the role of the people begins on the morning of the elections and ends by placing a piece of paper in the box, sums up a very big issue in one moment. The box decides the choice, but the quality of the choice is formed years before it. It consists of people’s awareness, of the information available to them, of their ability to question, compare, and hold accountable, and of the presence of personalities who have worked, experienced, and recognized their competence.

We do not want to discover the candidate the day his picture is hung in the street. We would like to see him take responsibility, explain his decision, admit his mistake, and offer solutions whose costs he knows before he promises people their results. Egypt is too big to be governed by the eloquence of a preacher, fleeting popularity, or an organization that considers reaching the presidency a means to seize control of the state.

Egypt has institutions, and I am confident that their role is essential in protecting the state from penetration. Protection is achieved through clear rules, a law that applies to everyone, oversight of funding and conflicts of interest, and respect for the constitution and the will of Egyptians.

The presence of strong institutions reassures the citizen that the fate of his country is protected by a system of responsibility and accountability, and that any future president will rule within a state with rules and borders. Therefore, the remaining years until 2030 are as important as the day of the transfer of power itself.

We must see more room for talent, parties presenting workable programs, media asking real questions, and officials being evaluated on the results of their work. We must learn that political difference alone does not negate patriotism, and that support alone does not prove competence.

I see in the president’s declared position an opportunity for major development in the Egyptian governance experience. The success of the opportunity requires that preparation for the future be transformed into action that we can see from now.

Then the year 2030 could become a milestone: a president who ends his term and hands over responsibility, a people who choose consciously, and institutions that guarantee the continuation of the state and respect for its rules.

The greatest thing a ruler can leave for his country is to make its future more secure, even in his absence.

Egypt deserves to be reassured by who rules it, and by the rules that will remain after the president leaves office.