CAIRO: Protestserupted overnight in Cairo and other Egyptian cities calling for the removal ofPresident Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in a rare show of dissent quickly quashed byauthorities. Hundreds of Egyptians took to the streets late Friday, chantingslogans including "Leave, Sisi!" and demanding the "fall of theregime". At least 74 people were arrested, a security source told AFP,with plain clothed police patrolling side streets of downtown Cairo.
After overnightclashes with the protesters, security forces yesterday maintained tight controlof Tahrir Square - the epicenter of the 2011 revolution that unseated long-timeautocrat Hosni Mubarak. The country effectively banned protests under a 2013law and a state of emergency is still in full effect. "I think it's safeto say that the events of the past few weeks, including the development lastnight, pose the most serious legitimacy crisis facing Sisi," Nael Shama, aCairo-based political analyst, told AFP.
The protests cameon the back of an online call put out by Mohamed Aly, a disgruntled exiledEgyptian businessman, demanding Sisi be toppled. The construction contractorhas been posting videos from Spain that have gone viral since early September,accusing Sisi and the military of rampant corruption. The president flatlydenied the allegations last week at a youth conference and sought to assureEgyptians that he "was honest and faithful" to his people and themilitary.
In Aly's latestvideo posted early Friday morning on his growing social media accounts, heurged Egyptians to head to the streets after a highly anticipated Super Cupfootball match between Cairo powerhouses Al Ahly and Zamalek. "No oneshouted bread, freedom, social justice like in 2011, they escalated straight to'Leave' from the first minute," Shama noted.
Thousands sharedfootage on social media documenting the demonstrations, which sprang up inseveral cities including sizeable crowds blocking traffic in Alexandria,Al-Mahalla, Damietta, Mansoura and Suez. Shama, who wrote a book on Egypt'sforeign policy, said the "totally organic" nature of the small-scaleprotests was "unprecedented". "This is the first time peopletake to the streets in many years but I am not sure it will be the last,"he added.
Under the rule ofgeneral-turned-president Sisi, authorities have launched a broad crackdown ondissidents, jailing thousands of Islamists as well as secular activists andpopular bloggers. Sisi led the military ouster of former Islamist presidentMohamed Morsi in 2013 and won back-to-back landslide elections after runningvirtually unopposed. He has regularly invoked security and stability ashallmarks of his reign in contrast to the situations in regional hot spots suchas Iraq, Libya and Syria.
During lastweek's youth conference, Sisi again took the opportunity to warn of the dangersof protesting. On television Friday night, boisterous and pro-Sisi host AmrAdib lambasted Aly, the businessman, showing footage of him allegedly in adrunken stupor. Adib urged his fellow countrymen to "take care of thecountry... because the Muslim Brotherhood want to raze it to the ground".
The Islamistgroup, once considered one of Egypt's most organized political forces, wasoutlawed as a terror group in 2013 after Morsi's overthrow. Egyptians quicklytook to social media to criticize Adib, a vocal backer of Mubarak during the2011 revolution, for dismissing the protesters as "people against thecountry". Discontent over rising prices has been swelling in Egypt, whereSisi's government has imposed strict austerity measures since 2016 as part of a$12-billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund. Nearly one inthree Egyptians live below the poverty line on less than $1.40 a day, accordingto official figures released in July.
Human RightsWatch urged Egyptian authorities on Saturday to "protect the right"to protest peacefully and demanded that those arrested be released. Sisi flewFriday night to New York, where he is scheduled to address the UN GeneralAssembly next week. The president's office did not comment on the protests,when asked by AFP yesterday. "Now the ball is in the government'scourt," said Shama, the analyst. "They have to respond somehow."- AFP