[Salon] Sisi’s third term starts in a troubled Egypt

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

Sisi’s third term starts in a troubled Egypt

Summary: Under the shadow of the Gaza war Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s new six year term begins in a restive country beset by economic, political and social anxieties.

We thank Hossam el-Hamalawy for today’s newsletter, an edited version of his 3Arabawy Egypt Security Sector Report. Hossam is a journalist and scholar-activist, currently based in Germany. He was involved in the Egyptian labour movement and was one of the organisers of the 2011 revolution. Follow his writings on Substack and Twitter.

Six more years

After winning the electoral circus, Sisi was sworn in last week for a third term in office. The lavish ceremony occurred at the parliament’s building in the New Administrative Capital. As I wrote when the election process began in late November last year:

The elections will not bring anything new. They simply reveal the underlying dynamics of Egypt’s political scene: a crushed opposition that is seeking to test the waters but is not able yet to challenge Sisi in any meaningful way and a nervous president who is worried about any signs of popular mobilisation.

Egypt and the war in Palestine

Under security pressure, activists cancelled the solidarity protest that was due to take place on Tuesday 2 April, in front of the Journalists Syndicate in downtown Cairo. Yet, they still went ahead and organised a rally on the following day. Protesters chanted in solidarity with Gaza, and denounced the Arab regimes, accusing them of treason, and calling for the release of political prisoners.

Homeland Security detained at least 14 activists after raiding their homes or workplaces following the end of the protest. They were brought to the Supreme State Security Prosecutor’s office, to be charged with the usual “membership of a terror organisation, and spreading fake news.” They were released on Monday.

The US and Israel are pushing Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas into accepting a hostage deal. As Atef Said notes “the Egyptian regime has expressed rhetorical support for Palestinians but is complicit in Israel’s genocide.”

More than 10 people were arrested from their homes on Thursday after participating in a Wednesday protest in solidarity with Gaza on the steps of the Cairo Journalists Syndicate [photo credit: Mada Masr]

Prisons, security crackdowns

• The Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence has published its monthly report on human rights violations, deaths in custody, and torture during March.
• Homeland Security officers continue to conduct arbitrary arrests and fabricate terror charges against citizens in Cairo and the provinces. Such crackdowns are following the state’s strategy of deliberate randomisation of violence and to assert Homeland Security’s raison d'être.
• The MOI special forces, working under the command of Homeland Security officers and prison wardens, stormed the cells housing political prisoners in Gamasa Maximum Security Prison in Daqahliya province to terrorise the inmates. The attack which took place on 10 March involved volleys of tear gas to suffocate the prisoners and severe beatings. The MOI issued a statement denying the attack and accused the “terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group” of spreading “fake news.”
• The number of people, who have died in MOI-run prisons and police stations has risen to at least 11 in 2024.
• A military court in Ismailia has renewed the detention of Sinai tribesmen who were arrested by the army after taking part in protests last October to demand the right of return to their demolished towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayid. At least 53 remain in custody.

Egypt must halt executions warn UN experts: “Capital punishment may only be carried out after a legal process that guarantees all of the safeguards required by international human rights law,” the experts said.

Ras el-Hikma

Residents are resisting the military’s attempt to evict them from Ras el-Hikma on Egypt’s northwestern Mediterranean coast. The prime real estate was sold to the UAE which plans to develop it as a luxury tourist destination. One resident expressed the anger of many: “We address the president. The people of Ras el-Hikma do not bow to anyone. Our families and lives are at risk. We will not be threatened….Without a fair agreement, we will not leave our lands.”

Labour

• The Supreme State Security Prosecutor has renewed the detention of two Ghazl el-Mahalla workers, Wael Abu Zuwayed and Muhammad Tolba, who have been in custody since 29 February for their role in the textile strike.
• The Supreme Council for Wages has decreed raising the national monthly minimum wage in the private sector to LE6,000 [$126.56] starting in May. However the absence of state supervision and a designated mechanism for the implementation of such decrees have always meant that many private businesses would manoeuvre to avoid compliance. Hence we can expect a surge in industrial actions in the private sector soon, as workers pressure their companies into implementing the decree.
• Workers at the state-run General Nile Company for Roads and Construction have been on strike since 27 March, demanding the implementation of Sisi’s earlier decree to raise the national minimum wage for the public sector to LE6,000.

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