On Tuesday, Speaker of the Egyptian parliament Ali Abdel-Al compared Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler.

Abdel-Al said: Hitler had his mistakes. [But] his expansion eastward and westward was made possible by the infrastructure that had been laid, an infrastructure that continues to the locomotive that has made Germany the first rate country that it is today.”

Thus, Abdel-Al likened al-Sisi’s era to that of Hitler’s from the angle that each of them launched projects in exchange for the confiscation of freedoms.

“Building countries in transitional periods requires more harsh measures, and we do not have the luxury of difference. The Egyptian people must line up behind their political leadership,” Abdel-Al said at the opening session of parliament for its annual session.

In the wake of widespread popular protests in the country demanding the fall of al-Sisi, Abdel-Al pledged a “breakthrough” in political, party and media reform.

“The problem is a president who jumps to achieve the goals, a weak government and absent local councils [when it’s time to hold elections] to contain young people instead of sitting in cafes,” Abdel-Al said.

He added: “The House of Representatives will not allow the export of problems to al-Sisi, and executives must take responsibility.”

On September 20 large numbers of citizens took to the streets to demand al-Sisi stand down, and in response authorities arrested over 2,000 peaceful demonstrators, politicians, academics, journalists and human rights lawyers.