These small gatherings are small in size and quickly dispersed, but they are a strong message to the Egyptian leader.
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Dozens of people were arrested in Egypt after unprecedented protests against President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi. With cries of "Sissi, go away! " groups of a few dozens, sometimes a few hundred Egyptians, armed with courage and anger, defied the ban on demonstrations to descend the streets of Cairo and other cities of the country, Friday, September 20 in the evening. The move continued in Suez on Saturday night, with 200 protesters.
Limited in scale and quickly dispersed by the security forces, these small gatherings are a strong message addressed to President Sissi in view of the repressive lead screed imposed on the country. On the back of economic slump, anger rises in Egypt against the marshal and his army.
It's a series of videos that ignited the spirits. In these images in Arabic, an Egyptian entrepreneur, Mohamed Ali, exiled in Spain, claims that the authorities owe him millions of Egyptian pounds for achievements made by his Amlaak building company, in collaboration with the army, which oversees construction many projects in the country. Without providing any evidence, the man accuses the army of mismanagement of public funds in the construction of luxury hotels, presidential palaces, as well as for the grave of the mother of President Sissi, who died in 2015. According to this entrepreneur , who castigates "Proud projects" authorities, the army has "Builds many failed projects that have not brought any income to people".
Multiplication of megaprojects
Ali's accusations have been echoed by social networks and the Egyptian street. The increasing role played by the military in various sectors of the economy since Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi came to power in a military coup in the summer of 2013, and the proliferation of Megaprojects, such as the new administrative capital or the doubling of the Suez Canal, are attracting criticism. Many people believe that the billions of euros invested in these projects would have been better used to rebuild a weak economy and improve public services, while the austerity measures imposed since 2016 have hit the population hard, almost a third of whom are already living below the poverty line.
