Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Abdel Fattah al-SisiReuters

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to win the presidential election in Egypt next week, urged Egyptians on Friday to vote in large numbers in the vote on Monday and Tuesday.

"You went down (to the streets) because Egypt was in danger on June 30," 2013, Sisi said in an interview to four television channels, according to the AFP news agency.

He was referring to Egyptians who poured on to the streets that day in their millions to demand the resignation of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after a turbulent year in power.

"You need to go down now more than any other time in (the country's) history. Go down, show to the entire world that there are 40, 45 (million) or even more" voters casting their ballots, said Sisi.

Riding on a wave of popularity, retired field marshal Sisi has not addressed any public rally during campaigning, which came to a close Friday.

Sisi, in the interview, reiterated his backing for a controversial law banning all but police-authorized demonstrations.

"It's not that it is unacceptable to me, but the situation does not permit. Society wants to move on ... Can people tolerate protests that are not regulated given the current situation?" Sisi asked.

"The protest law is there to regulate protests not to ban protests," he declared, according to AFP.

Egypt has been rocked by deadly protests since the ouster of Morsi, with his supporters staging rallies which often lead to violent clashes with security forces and the anti-Morsi camp.

Hundreds of Islamists have been placed on trial and some have been sentenced en masse to death over the past ten months.

Sisi has declared that Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood was "finished" in Egypt and would not return if he is elected.

The former army chief has also hinted that, if elected, he would be willing to consider making changes to the peace agreement with Israel, though he had previously declared that he would “respect all international treaties and contracts, including the peace treaty with Israel.”

Sisi's only rival in the upcoming election is leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, who has often raised concerns that Egypt was returning to the autocratic era witnessed under Mubarak.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)