Al-Sisi's economic myths

The logic of General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s supporters never ceases to amaze, nor do their double standard and flawed comments cease to reveal the magnitude of the myths and bubbles they are living in due to the “brainwashing” exercised by the media day and night. This was obvious during the economic conference held a few days ago in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh, as an unprecedented number of myths and nonsense emerged on its side-lines.

The first of such myths is the story of the conference being greatly successful and that it will deliver Egypt from its current economic situation of poverty and failure to an unprecedented state of prosperity and comfort. However, those believing this do not tell us how this will be achieved in the Global Competitiveness Report. In addition to this, its performance deteriorated with regards to the report’s 12 pillars, and ranked lowest in infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, innovation, higher education and training, market size, financial market development work development, health, primary education, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, technological readiness and institutions. In addition to the recession caused by the budget deficit, which reached 159 billion Egyptian pounds ($20.8 billion), i.e. 6.9 per cent of GDP, there is also an internal debt that reached about two trillion Egyptian pounds (0.26 trillion), according to the Egyptian Central Bank and an external debt of about $45 billion ($5.9 billion). All of these indicators are enough to overshadow the outcomes of the economic conference that Al-Sisi’s supporters boast about.

The second myth is the story of the conference attracting between $36 billion and $150 billion for Egypt, according to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, which was reported by newspaper headlines and media statements from pro-state media outlets. Regardless of the accuracy of these figures, Al-Sisi and his supporters do not have the courage to tell the truth, which is that most of these investments are concentrated in specific sectors such as energy and real estate, but not on productive economic activities that may support the economy and generate true work opportunities. Moreover, such investments primarily benefit the foreign investors, businessmen and politicians in Egypt. Ordinary Egyptian citizens gain nothing from these investments other than the empty promises of the media outlets and articles of praise in the newspapers. The general’s supporters also will not admit to the poor Egyptian citizen that he does not have the right to hold any of these investors accountable or prosecute them if their projects fail or if they fail to live up to their obligations or finish them on time.

The law does not give the citizens the right to do so because they are not partners in the investments.

The third myth concerns the claim that these investments aim to build the Egyptian “state” and not to serve the interests of the government; the government wants to convince us that there is a true difference between the two. This is a corrupt logic not only because there is no difference between the state and the government in a country like Egypt, as there has been no difference since Abdel Nasser’s era, but, also, because General Al-Sisi said this months ago, when he stated “there is no such thing as the government”, i.e. the state and the government are the same.

However, what causes the most disgust and revulsion is the fact that Al-Sisi’s supporters use this myth to challenge the loyalty and affiliation of any citizen opposed to the promotion of such myths and who rejects the deceit and deception practiced by the pro-Al-Sisi media towards ordinary Egyptians. These supporters want to convince us that the “state” is more important than the individual and society and that building the state requires sacrifices from everyone, even if that means sacrificing their dignity and gagging them. These “state supporters” transformed the state from institutions that are responsible for serving the individual into a “sacred cow” that cannot be criticised or touched.

The fourth myth, and the mother of all myths, concerns the “new capital”, the building of which was approved in the economic conference. According to many researchers and specialists, this is considered a political, social and moral crime that is no different than any of the other crimes committed in the past two years. It is a political crime because no dialogue or discussion was held regarding the project nor were the people of Egypt consulted in the matter of changing their capital and historical city and moving it to another city, the location and name of which is still unknown.

It is a moral crime because the proposed city, according to many statements, does not intend to lighten the burden on the original capital and the ordinary citizens, especially those who come to the capital from various provinces in order to meet their needs, but rather is an attempt to evade them, viewing them as dependents rather than citizens who have civil rights. It is also considered a social crime because it promotes the idea of dividing the right and poor and it creates an economic and social “apartheid” between those who are wealthy and those who are not, thus promoting the logic of “rich ghettos”. This is exactly the current situation in the case of the neighbourhoods of Mokattam, Al-Tagammu’ Al-Khamis, and 6th of October, which is full of social and economic contradictions and contrast. Therefore, it is not strange that the company responsible for the implementation of the project is the Emirates’ Emaar, which allocated an estimated $45 billion to implement the project over five to seven years.

The last, and most amusing myth, is the conviction of some of the General’s supporters that the money and investments that have been announced will go into their pockets or the pockets of their children. If any of these individuals had any sense of reason or wisdom, they would’ve asked themselves where the $40 billion given to Al-Sisi and his chief of staff, Abbas, by all of the Gulf states disappeared to in less than two years? But they definitely will not ask themselves this.

Translated from alaraby.co.uk