Egypt's army chief and Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has reportedly said that Egypt's state institutions have collapsed following the January 25 revolution, which ousted autocrat president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
"People keep asking about the state," al-Sisi purportedly said in a leaked audio recording aired by the Jazeera Mubasher Misr late Friday.
"The state institutions have collapsed. The presidency has been undermined, the constitution suspended, the parliament dissolved, the Interior Ministry dealt a heavy blow and the Judiciary has been questioned," he allegedly said.
Eight days of mass protests have forced Mubarak, who ruled the country for three decades, to step down and handed power over to the army, amid calls for clearing the Judiciary, police and the media.
In the audio which the Qatari-funded channel said it was recorded in December last year, al-Sisi reportedly says that the army council, which took over from Mubarak, had braved offenses to carry out a set plan for transition.
He allegedly said in the recording that the Egyptian army did not use force to take revenge on the media or policemen.
Al-Sisi purportedly lashed out at calls for radical changes in the Interior Ministry and the Judiciary.
"By offending the Interior Ministry without rebuilding it, you destroy it," al-Sisi allegedly said.
The top army general, however, agrees that there are some corrupt people in state institutions.
"Some people are not good," al-Sisi allegedly said. "This is normal, because there is no perfect institution."
Anadolu Agency could not independently verify the authenticity of the leaked recording.
