PHOTO
03 July 2017
On a June evening, as the call for Maghrib sunset prayer rang out announcing Ramadan Iftar time, a group of Egyptian police officers gathered at a popular checkpoint at a main Cairo street. A few moments later, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi arrived and food was served from the front of a police truck for the head of state to break his fast with the officers, while several passers-by stopped to shake hands and take pictures.
The event, flagged as top news on the front pages of most Egyptian newspapers, popular TV talk shows and news websites, was one of a series of public appearances Sisi has made recently. Analysts say the former army leader, who has a year remaining on his four-year term, claim such events are all the early stages of the start on his re-election campaign.
“It’s obvious the presidential election has started on the streets, especially (as) candidate registration will open soon in February 2018 and with talk spreading about several opposition figures’ intention to run in the vote,” Ziad Akl, an Egyptian analyst in the Cairo-based Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told Zawya in June.
Egypt’s presidential vote is expected to take place starting May next year. Analysts say Sisi’s popularity - although diminished - is still strong enough to grant him an easy victory, especially in the absence of a strong or credible opposition. The vote will be the final time the former defence minister will be eligible to run, as per the constitution, which allows presidents to service just two terms in office.
The election comes as Sisi tries to steer the Arab world’s most populous nation through perhaps its worst economic crisis in modern times and also defeat a prolonged Islamist militancy.
“I think the main challenge facing Sisi is the economic situation and the hike in prices, which certainly harmed his popularity,” Akl said.
Inflation hit a 30-year high in April, soaring since November’s flotation of the Egyptian pound slashed the currency’s value by about half versus the dollar. In May, the government announced it would allocate an extra 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($55 million) in food subsidies during the high-demand season of Ramadan, according to Reuters.
“The economic situation will not prevent the president from running in the vote and winning,” said Akl. “I don’t think the popularity drop was huge, maybe it went down from 80 percent to 72 percent or something and the 8 percent did not go to anyone else.”
The Egyptian political stage is almost devoid of any real challengers to Sisi. Many Egyptians say the president’s tough crackdown on opponents, particularly against the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest and most organised Islamist group, has badly harmed political life in Egypt and scared away many politicians.
Former president Mohamed Mursi had also sidelined many liberal groups and political activists, empowering only his Brotherhood group and its Islamist allies. A few months after his election, the Islamist leader issued a constitutional decree granting himself sweeping powers. The decree sparked the protests’ against him that a year later ended his rule.
The Egyptian newspaper of Al-Dostor listed in a report published last month 50 activities and projects it said Sisi had accomplished in his three-year rule. The achievements included holding several youth empowerment programs, building 145,000 residential units for the middle income citizens and announcing plans for tenders to build 296 factories.
It also said the president’s era witnessed a rise in the number of female officials holding key state positions. Egypt’s important ministry of investment and ministry of planning are both led by women and 26 new female judges were appointed in 2015.
Stability and security
Restoring stability and security was the pledge the 62-year-old president gave when he assumed power after winning by 96.91 percent in a presidential vote in May 2014. But three years on, many Egyptians feel the promise has not yet been fulfilled.
“There is no stability or security. We are in crisis, a deep crisis,” said Nadia Maher, a 22-year-old student in the faculty of commerce at the University of Minya. Some 29 people were killed and 24 others got wounded in an attack in May on Coptic Christians that took place in Minya, a town in southern Egypt.
During Sisi’s three years in power, Egypt has been hit by a series of bombings and shootings, mainly targeted at state officials and Christians. The violence erupted shortly after the army - led by Sisi at that time - ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 following four days of mass protests against the Islamist leader’s rule.
But for some, Sisi made some progress in combating terrorism. “It is true that Sisi’s regime failed to eliminate terrorism but it did limit it to certain areas or targets,” analyst Akl said.
“Also, the Egyptian people have more faith in Sisi’s regime than in Mursi’s and they’re more willing to give him time than they were willing to give to Mursi.”
Mursi’s one-year rule also witnessed violence against Christians and others. A few months after Mursi’s election in June 2012, four Egyptian Shi’ites were murdered in a first-of-its-kind attack in Egypt’s recent history.
School teacher Mahmoud Younis, 49, from the Nile delta town of Beni Suef agreed the security situation under Sisi had improved slightly. “Most of the terrorist attacks that happen now are in Sinai (a peninsula near the Israeli border).”
But Reda Hussein, a 43-year-old employee from Sharqiya, another Nile delta town, disagreed and said he wanted to ask the people who feel more secure and stable under Sisi’s rule the following question: “How can one feel stable or secure when he is worried that he on any day might not be able to secure his basic needs of food and other important daily needs?”
“As long as prices continue to be that high, I can’t see any stability or security,” he added.
State sovereignty
Sisi was regarded as the nation’s saviour when he stood confidently in his military uniform on state TV and announced the overthrowing of Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president. He was surrounded by the most popular political figures, top religious authorities and senior army officers at the time.
He promised to protect the state against a conspiracy Sisi said was led by Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood to make Egypt part of an Islamic empire and strip away its national identity.
But last year’s decision to cede two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia disappointed many Egyptians, including Sisi’s staunchest allies, who did not expect a veteran army general such as Sisi to give away the strategically-located islands that command the straits of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Al-Masryeen Al-Ahrar or The Free Egyptians political party - one of the stoutest supporters of President Sisi and a strong opponent of Islamists - last month issued a harsh statement protesting the presidency’s decision to give away the Tiran and Sanafir islands.
“The party assures that the procedures the executive authority had undertaken and which included controversy and lack of transparency and a clear violation of the constitution’s articles had led to the current political crisis and caused social division and political conflict,” the party said in a statement.
According to analyst Akl, Sisi’s move to give away the islands “had a major role” in denting his popularity with the public.
The decision was ratified by Sisi in June, disregarding a March court order annulling the move. The decision was initially taken last year during a visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to Cairo that ended with over $20 billion in business deals.
“No one knows who owns Tiran and Sanafir and no one cared to tell us,” Amr Naguib, a 32-year-old Egyptian banker told Zawya. “We need someone to talk to us and explain the rationale behind such decision, otherwise everyone will think the way they like and the truth will not be known.”
Sisi’s June 14’s street Iftar with policemen was accompanied by another one the general had with a group of ordinary Egyptians. Pictures of the president dressed smart-casually in a navy baby shirt and black pants sitting beside an old woman wearing a long dark galabya (garment) and a black headscarf went viral on social and local media.
“Those meetings are nice and all, but are they solving our problems or answering our questions?” Naguib asked. “No they are not.” As the political showcasing increases, the Egyptian people will ultimately make their decision when they go to the polls next year.
© Zawya 2017
On a June evening, as the call for Maghrib sunset prayer rang out announcing Ramadan Iftar time, a group of Egyptian police officers gathered at a popular checkpoint at a main Cairo street. A few moments later, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi arrived and food was served from the front of a police truck for the head of state to break his fast with the officers, while several passers-by stopped to shake hands and take pictures.
The event, flagged as top news on the front pages of most Egyptian newspapers, popular TV talk shows and news websites, was one of a series of public appearances Sisi has made recently. Analysts say the former army leader, who has a year remaining on his four-year term, claim such events are all the early stages of the start on his re-election campaign.
“It’s obvious the presidential election has started on the streets, especially (as) candidate registration will open soon in February 2018 and with talk spreading about several opposition figures’ intention to run in the vote,” Ziad Akl, an Egyptian analyst in the Cairo-based Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told Zawya in June.
Egypt’s presidential vote is expected to take place starting May next year. Analysts say Sisi’s popularity - although diminished - is still strong enough to grant him an easy victory, especially in the absence of a strong or credible opposition. The vote will be the final time the former defence minister will be eligible to run, as per the constitution, which allows presidents to service just two terms in office.
The election comes as Sisi tries to steer the Arab world’s most populous nation through perhaps its worst economic crisis in modern times and also defeat a prolonged Islamist militancy.
“I think the main challenge facing Sisi is the economic situation and the hike in prices, which certainly harmed his popularity,” Akl said.
Inflation hit a 30-year high in April, soaring since November’s flotation of the Egyptian pound slashed the currency’s value by about half versus the dollar. In May, the government announced it would allocate an extra 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($55 million) in food subsidies during the high-demand season of Ramadan, according to Reuters.
“The economic situation will not prevent the president from running in the vote and winning,” said Akl. “I don’t think the popularity drop was huge, maybe it went down from 80 percent to 72 percent or something and the 8 percent did not go to anyone else.”
The Egyptian political stage is almost devoid of any real challengers to Sisi. Many Egyptians say the president’s tough crackdown on opponents, particularly against the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest and most organised Islamist group, has badly harmed political life in Egypt and scared away many politicians.
Former president Mohamed Mursi had also sidelined many liberal groups and political activists, empowering only his Brotherhood group and its Islamist allies. A few months after his election, the Islamist leader issued a constitutional decree granting himself sweeping powers. The decree sparked the protests’ against him that a year later ended his rule.
The Egyptian newspaper of Al-Dostor listed in a report published last month 50 activities and projects it said Sisi had accomplished in his three-year rule. The achievements included holding several youth empowerment programs, building 145,000 residential units for the middle income citizens and announcing plans for tenders to build 296 factories.
It also said the president’s era witnessed a rise in the number of female officials holding key state positions. Egypt’s important ministry of investment and ministry of planning are both led by women and 26 new female judges were appointed in 2015.
Stability and security
Restoring stability and security was the pledge the 62-year-old president gave when he assumed power after winning by 96.91 percent in a presidential vote in May 2014. But three years on, many Egyptians feel the promise has not yet been fulfilled.
“There is no stability or security. We are in crisis, a deep crisis,” said Nadia Maher, a 22-year-old student in the faculty of commerce at the University of Minya. Some 29 people were killed and 24 others got wounded in an attack in May on Coptic Christians that took place in Minya, a town in southern Egypt.
During Sisi’s three years in power, Egypt has been hit by a series of bombings and shootings, mainly targeted at state officials and Christians. The violence erupted shortly after the army - led by Sisi at that time - ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 following four days of mass protests against the Islamist leader’s rule.
But for some, Sisi made some progress in combating terrorism. “It is true that Sisi’s regime failed to eliminate terrorism but it did limit it to certain areas or targets,” analyst Akl said.
“Also, the Egyptian people have more faith in Sisi’s regime than in Mursi’s and they’re more willing to give him time than they were willing to give to Mursi.”
Mursi’s one-year rule also witnessed violence against Christians and others. A few months after Mursi’s election in June 2012, four Egyptian Shi’ites were murdered in a first-of-its-kind attack in Egypt’s recent history.
School teacher Mahmoud Younis, 49, from the Nile delta town of Beni Suef agreed the security situation under Sisi had improved slightly. “Most of the terrorist attacks that happen now are in Sinai (a peninsula near the Israeli border).”
But Reda Hussein, a 43-year-old employee from Sharqiya, another Nile delta town, disagreed and said he wanted to ask the people who feel more secure and stable under Sisi’s rule the following question: “How can one feel stable or secure when he is worried that he on any day might not be able to secure his basic needs of food and other important daily needs?”
“As long as prices continue to be that high, I can’t see any stability or security,” he added.
State sovereignty
Sisi was regarded as the nation’s saviour when he stood confidently in his military uniform on state TV and announced the overthrowing of Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president. He was surrounded by the most popular political figures, top religious authorities and senior army officers at the time.
He promised to protect the state against a conspiracy Sisi said was led by Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood to make Egypt part of an Islamic empire and strip away its national identity.
But last year’s decision to cede two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia disappointed many Egyptians, including Sisi’s staunchest allies, who did not expect a veteran army general such as Sisi to give away the strategically-located islands that command the straits of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Al-Masryeen Al-Ahrar or The Free Egyptians political party - one of the stoutest supporters of President Sisi and a strong opponent of Islamists - last month issued a harsh statement protesting the presidency’s decision to give away the Tiran and Sanafir islands.
“The party assures that the procedures the executive authority had undertaken and which included controversy and lack of transparency and a clear violation of the constitution’s articles had led to the current political crisis and caused social division and political conflict,” the party said in a statement.
According to analyst Akl, Sisi’s move to give away the islands “had a major role” in denting his popularity with the public.
The decision was ratified by Sisi in June, disregarding a March court order annulling the move. The decision was initially taken last year during a visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to Cairo that ended with over $20 billion in business deals.
“No one knows who owns Tiran and Sanafir and no one cared to tell us,” Amr Naguib, a 32-year-old Egyptian banker told Zawya. “We need someone to talk to us and explain the rationale behind such decision, otherwise everyone will think the way they like and the truth will not be known.”
Sisi’s June 14’s street Iftar with policemen was accompanied by another one the general had with a group of ordinary Egyptians. Pictures of the president dressed smart-casually in a navy baby shirt and black pants sitting beside an old woman wearing a long dark galabya (garment) and a black headscarf went viral on social and local media.
“Those meetings are nice and all, but are they solving our problems or answering our questions?” Naguib asked. “No they are not.” As the political showcasing increases, the Egyptian people will ultimately make their decision when they go to the polls next year.
© Zawya 2017
