President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has opened the “Octagon”, a vast structure in Egypt's New Capital that serves as a national command centre that the Egyptian leader said reflects the will of the nation.
Wearing a field marshal uniform and sunglasses, Mr El Sisi, also the supreme commander of the armed forces, delivered an address championing the defining policies of his 13-year rule, from zero tolerance of political Islam to unmitigated opposition to the Arab uprisings. He also stressed his resolve to push on with economic reforms under which prices and services have risen beyond the reach of many.
It was the first time in more than a decade that the Egyptian leader, a career army officer, had appeared in military uniform in public. His sartorial choice appeared designed to project an image of strength as the country is embroiled in the fallout from civil war in its southern neighbour Sudan, the Gaza war that raged for two years across its eastern border and political instability in Libya, to its west.
Extolling Cairo's role as a regional powerhouse – with the largest army in the Middle East and North Africa – Mr El Sisi said Egypt's expertise in regional affairs was unmatched, citing its landmark 1979 peace treaty with Israel that serves to this day as a pillar of stability.
Egypt has played a key role along with Turkey and Qatar in mediating the October 2025 ceasefire that brought two years of war in Gaza to a pause. Under Pakistan's leadership, Egypt was also involved in producing a road map for ending the US-Iran war.
“I renew before you the pledge that our glorious Egypt will continue, with its uncompromising and unbreakable will, the march of construction and development and laying the foundations of a modern state,” he said.
“People of Egypt, I am definitely aware of what the Egyptian citizen must endure and I realise that improving his standard of living and reducing his suffering are at the forefront of the state's priorities and is the primary concern when decisions are made.”
Mr El Sisi said the “State's Strategic Command” embodied the foundations of the “New Republic”, a vaguely defined term coined by his administration referring to the sweeping economic and political changes he has introduced since coming to power in 2013.
“The choice of the new capital as the home of this structure was not a coincidence,” said the Egyptian leader. “It's a living embodiment of the foundations of the New Republic.
“This command is not for running military situations alone, but rather [is] a key base for the state's capability to deal with challenges and exceptional circumstances with a comprehensive vision and advanced systems that place the security and stability of the nation above all else.”
He later said the decision to build the Octagon in the New Capital in the desert east of Cairo along with the Cabinet headquarters, government ministries and parliament, was to prevent a repeat of the sieges laid by Islamists in 2013 of key sites to influence policies, including the Supreme Constitutional Court and a state media complex on the western outskirts of Cairo.
“The state had to leave the capital [Cairo] to ensure that that does not happen again ... no one can do this in Egypt again, but they will think of other ways to harm Egypt and that, in turn, requires that we sincerely look out for our country so that God helps us during difficult circumstances.”
Mr El Sisi was promoted to the rank of field marshal after he led the 2013 overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, the president who was elected in 2012.
Mr El Sisi's government has since overseen a sweeping crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Mr Morsi was a member, jailing thousands of its members. The clamp down also snared liberal pro-democracy activists, many of whom were active participants in the 2011 uprising that forced autocratic president Hosni Mubarak to step down after 29 years in power.
The Egyptian leader has been a frequent critic of the uprising, arguing that while it might have been staged with good intentions it has brought economic and security chaos to the country, enabling the emergence of an insurgency by extremists and billions of dollars in lost revenue.
“I always recall the events of 2011 because God almighty saved Egypt and there are nations that have gone through similar circumstances in 2011 and are suffering from their fallout until today,” he said.
