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The day that Al-Sisi’s celebrations fell flat

June 5, 2014 at 12:17 pm

The day that Al-Sisi has waited so long for has finally arrived; the day that he has been waiting for since he staged his brutal coup and overthrew the first elected civilian president in Egypt. He expected this day to be a party, with 40 million Egyptians joining him to celebrate his achievement, as he stated in his television interviews. He set the stage and booked the halls in every corner of the country and waited for the people to turn up, but they didn’t come.

It was a catastrophe for him and his team of journalists, TV presenters, judges and those who call themselves politicians, and they took to the streets trembling, as if they had lost their minds. Some threatened the people that if they did not vote they would be whipped with shoes, while others cursed them and referred to them as ill-mannered and ignorant. Others even threatened that the people would be prosecuted, while yet another called for raising the fine imposed on those who don’t vote to over EGP 500. As for the former advisor to the High Constitutional Court, Suzanne Mubarak, she demanded the expulsion of over half of the population from Egypt because she says they are traitors who have not responded to the calls of the country. It is as if the supporters of the coup-leader now judge who is patriotic and who isn’t, making the word “traitor” the word used most widely against those opposed to the coup.

This state of hysteria and imbalance lasted for the first two days of elections until they were relieved by the decision to extend voting for a third day in violation of the law, despite the people’s reluctance to vote on the third day and a repeat of the first and second days. However, the corrupt media chorus that accompanied the Field Marshal, who acted as Pharaoh’s magicians, celebrated this day and reported that the numbers of voters had, miraculously, risen by millions. According to their fraudulent claims, 47 per cent of the possible total, that’s 27 million votes, were cast, with their candidate getting more than 25 million. His opponent, Hamdeen Sabahi, only received 700,000 votes, they said, because they believe that he does not deserve any more than that. These votes were his compensation for the role he played and his deception with regards to the supporters of the January 25 Revolution. It is as if they want to send a message to the people saying that if Al-Sisi is the symbol of Mubarak’s regime and the deep state’s candidate, then Sabahi is the representative of the January 25 Revolution, and that the people chose the Mubarak regime over the revolution.

From a quick examination of the preliminary voting figures announced to the public, though, it is obvious that the main winner of the elections was the boycott, which was the option taken by over 53 per cent of the nation. Al-Sisi was, in reality, placed second and will govern Egypt with iron and fire in order to play out the role he began on 3 July last year. The only question that remains is will the people allow him to do so, or will the true Egyptian revolutionaries fight against him in order to overthrow him? The answer to this is very clear to anyone with insight. We must look carefully at the election catastrophe, the wedding without the guests, in order for us to see where Egypt is heading.

 

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.