Intissar Amer, wife of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, attended an event organized by the Armed Forces on Monday at the Air Defence Stadium to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the October War victory.
She sat in the first row next to Jehan Sadat, widow of late President Anwar Sadat, and the wives of the defence minister, the chief of staff and the prime minister.
Amer only attends a few official occasions and she is always accompanied by Jehan Sadat.
Her first appearance was on February 17, 2014, when al-Sisi was still defense minister, where she attended a ceremony honoring retired military leaders. The second time was at the inauguration of President al-Sisi on June 8, 2014.
The third time was on June 13, 2014, when she visited the victims of harassment in Tahrir Square.
After that, she attended the new Suez Canal opening ceremony on August 6, 2015.
Many people do not know what Amer looks like because she seldom makes an appearance. Many people attending the new Suez Canal ceremony took pictures with the wife of the chief of staff, thinking it was al-Sisi's wife.
Safwat Alem, a professor of public relations at Cairo University, said that according to protocol the president's wife has precedence in the seating arrangement at public events over the wives of former presidents.
“She did not sit next to the president on the podium during the ceremony as the protocol allows,” he said. “I believe the president wants to distance himself from rumors that his wife may be playing a political role as was said about the wives of former presidents.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
