Al-Sisi supporters turn against government following fuel price increase

The government’s decision to raise fuel prices in Egypt has provoked an angry reaction among many supporters of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi against the government of Ibrahim Mahlab. Some now describe Mahlab’s government as “the worst in the history” of the country and the increases as “a random decision that will lead to the people’s anger against the president”.

The spokeswoman for the Tamarod movement, Iman Al-Mahdi, said that the decision to increase fuel prices “will harm the state dramatically, as it acts as an opportunity for terrorism and its agents to exploit the anger of citizens and I do not think this is in favour of the state.” She urged the government to take this into consideration while attempting to protect the state.

In a post on Facebook Al-Mahdi said: “If the Minister of Petroleum and those who work in the sector are enjoying a good-quality life and cannot feel the suffering of the low-class people, I suggest that they ask themselves if they can cope with a salary of 1000 [Egyptian pounds] in addition to the same amount as transportation allowance, then tell us if they could take the same decision or not.”

Al-Mahdi doubted if anyone actually trusts the Minister of Electricity. “It is not because we are trying to be patient with power outages to build up this country, but that he thinks that we would accept this to happen at the expense of the poor citizens. We expect the government, at least, to impose controls to stop exploiters rather than announcing a decision to turn the street against it and then think of ways to apply control mechanisms.”

If justice is to be achieved and subsidies re-distributed, she added, “then start with the rich people who could handle this, as applying injustice fairly is justice, but what is going on now is nonsense.”

In a press statement, the head of Al Nour Party, Younis Mkhyon, said that he is “concerned about the threats posed on the national line-up as a result of wrong practices which are committed by some institutions that take neither the reality nor the public message into account, and rather work towards mobilising categories of the people against the state.”

This backlash against the price rises comes at a time when the Supporting the President Coalition, headed by the coordinator of the independent political current, Ahmad Fadali, has demanded that President Al-Sisi should intervene “immediately” and postpone the implementation of the decision to raise petrol prices indefinitely. A statement issued by the coalition said that the price of this decision is being paid by the ordinary citizens, adding that it will also have “negative effects” on the stability of the country.

“The government’s management of problems is a failure and will lead to widespread discontent among the people towards the president,” claimed Yasser Kora, Secretary of Political Communication at the National Movement Party, which is headed by ex-Mubarak era minister Ahmed Shafik. In a statement to Sha’ab Masr, Kora added, “The government has placed additional burdens on the citizens without providing, at the same time, economic remedies.” He pointed out that it has not taken into account that this is a “national security issue”.