Sisi fails to meet Tamarod’s goals

Nearly two year ago, Egypt’s grassroots movement by the name of Tamarod (rebellion) came into the spotlight when it called for popular protests on 30 June 2013 to overthrow the first democratically elect President Mohamed Morsi and hold early presidential elections.

In their campaign, the movement cited seven reasons for their demands: security, poverty, dependence on foreign aid, retribution, economy, human rights and relations with the United States.

Following Morsi’s ouster, Abdel Fatah Al- Sisi was brought to power, Al-Mesryoon newspaper compared the two periods.

According to the agency, the reduced security and spread of chaos and crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery and the flow of illegal weapons through Egypt’s western border with Libya, were the main reasons why people were demanding Morsi step down, but following 30 June, and despite the police’s return to the streets, the crimes did not stop, they increased to include a new wave of violence between security forces and supports of the ousted president.

The second reason why people demanded Morsi’s ouster, according to Tamarod, was his failure to combat poverty which was one of the most important factors that led to the overthrow of his predecessor President Hosni Mubarak.

During the January 2011 revolution, the Egyptian people came out on to the streets in their thousands demanding justice and decent living conditions, but even after Morsi was elected, they did not see any improvements in their living condition.

According to Al-Mesryoon, those who defend the current regime stress that Al-Sisi is working relentlessly to attract foreign investment, however the situation has not improved, while prices have doubled or tripled, and the gas crisis worsened.

Following the January revolutions, Egyptians aspired to achieve political and economic independence and to stop relying on foreign aid.

Morsi was heavily criticised after he toured Arab and foreign countries in a bid to attract investment and for borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Many activists and political figures described the move as “begging”, Tamarod included this as a reason to demand Morsi’s overthrow.

However the situation has not differed much under Sisis’ regime. Following Morsi’s overthrow, Egypt relied mainly on aid from the Gulf states who are reported to have placed nearly $23 billion in grants and deposits in the Egyptian Central Bank.

Following the 25 January revolution, all political forces demanded the inclusion of “retribution” at the top of any future regime’s agenda. Ousted President Hosni Mubarak, his two sons Gamal and Alaa, his former Interior Minister Habib Adli and seven of his aides were behind bars on charges of “killing demonstrators”. But, when the court acquitted Mubarak and his entourage, Morsi isolated Attorney General, Abdel Meguid Mahmoud and formed a revolutionary court to consider all cases of killing demonstrators.

However, during Sisi’s rule, Mubarak, his sons and all his aides were acquitted and celebrated as national heroes amid national outrage.

The Egyptian economy collapsed after the January revolution significantly, despite Morsi’s attempts to revive it through foreign investment and the promotion of tourism, but the situation did not.

Despite the fact that under Al-Sisi’s rule Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab announced that Egypt signed agreements worth $60 billion during an economic conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh and that Gulf countries pledged $12.5 billion to support the country, it was later revealed that Egypt would not be able to fulfil its share of the projects. It then demanded more funds from Arab countries. Moreover, foreign companies withdrew their investments due to the absence of security and economic stability.

The human rights situation did not improve in Egypt following Morsi’s ouster, as abuses in prisons and detention centres continued. Many civil society organisations including the National Council for Human Rights have criticised the abuses which the Interior Ministry has denied.

The country’s relations with the United States have also failed to improve under Al-Sisi’s governance.

A member of the 6 April Youth Movement, Khaled Ismail, said that Al-Sisi’s regime has failed to solve all the problems and crises and to achieve the youth’s demands.

The current regime is on the way to failure, where the Egyptian people are expected to come out in another revolution against this “authoritarian and dictatorial regime”.

A leader of Rebels Front, Rami Shaath said that after isolating President Mohamed Morsi and the election of President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi, Egypt returned to the period pre 25 January 2011, or even worse. Shaath said: “Injustice and poverty have spread and the gap between the Egyptian people widened.”