Reports of quadruple conspiracy against the leader of the coup

There has been no topic in the Egyptian media over the past two days apart from the conspiracy hatched by former presidential candidate General Ahmad Shafiq with the objective of toppling coup leader Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi.

In its Tuesday edition, Al-Shorouk newspaper quoted a senior source as saying that “the security agencies have monitored the movements and communications of Shafiq, who resides in Abu Dhabi, with certain personalities in ‘sensitive’ places that continue to support him and work for ‘destabilising’ Al-Sisi’s legitimacy in the hope that Shafiq may become the president of the republic once a coup is carried out against the coup leader.”

This development coincides with the spread of graffiti on the walls of buildings in central Cairo demanding the return of Shafiq to the country describing him as “the president”. Shafiq left Egypt following his defeat in the presidential elections three years ago and has not returned since out of anxiousness that he might be prosecuted.

The source pointed out that Al-Sisi has sent Shafiq a strongly worded message ordering him to cease those dubious activities and stressing that his return to Egypt is just impossible and that his name will not be removed from the arrivals’ watch list.

What is quite strange about this matter is that the source has confirmed that the security agencies monitored the embroilment of businessmen as well as security and political personalities, who support Shafiq, in a conspiracy hatched with officials from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United States in search of different scenarios for Egypt’s future, despite the considerable aid provided by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to Al-Sisi.

The anti-Sisi four

Pro-Sisi media have waged a fierce campaign against Shafiq. Journalist Amr Adib has said that senior personalities from within the 30 June pro coup alliance are waging a bone breaking battle with Al-Sisi to bring him down. He even insinuated that such personalities may be liquidated prior to 30 June this year.

The following day, journalist Yousef Al-Husseini reiterated the same story. He, however, delved into more details stressing that four personalities are ambitious to snatch the presidency from Al-Sisi. Each of these personalities is, allegedly, supported by important state personalities and institutions. He stressed that these senior personalities are actively trying to undermine Al-Sisi by hindering the functioning of state institutions and spending billions of dollars to achieve his downfall.

Al-Husseini explained that certain quarters within Egypt see Jamal Mubarak as the most suitable president for the country and that another bloc believes General Sami Anan to be the more suitable ruler for Egypt.

Al-Husseini went on to say that “there is another team who believes that Shafiq is the true president of Egypt and that he was the one who won in the 2012 presidential elections but was removed from power because of pressure the Muslim Brotherhood exercised on the former military council”. He also stressed that Shafiq is leading a real revolution against Al-Sisi from abroad and that businessmen, journalists and security officials loyal to him stand behind the campaign that calls for him to assume the presidency of the republic. The fourth contender is ousted President Mohamed Morsi whose return to his post as Egypt’s legitimate president is demanded by the Muslim Brotherhood.

“I am the president”

On the other hand, Shafiq’s lawyer Yahya Qadri has denied the involvement of the general in any activities aimed at destabilising Al-Sisi’s rule. He stressed that Shafiq is despondent as a result of the injustice he has been subjected to under Al-Sisi’s reign, for he is still banned from returning to Egypt despite having supported the coup against the Brotherhood.

In spite of this, Shafiq’s lawyer continued to claim that Shafiq did receive a telephone call on the eve of announcing the presidential election results from Sami Anan, the former chief of staff, congratulating him for winning the presidency.

He added that the pro-Shafiq campaign under the title of “You Are the president” is being conducted by members of the party that is headed by the general. However, in doing so, they only speak for themselves as they express their frustration because of the injustice exercised twice against Shafiq. The first time was when he was denied the presidency in 2012 despite having won the elections and the second when he was denied the right to compete against Al-Sisi in the presidential elections.

Speaking to the press, Qadri stressed that Shafiq would not come back to Egypt until his name is lifted from the arrivals’ watch list.

In statements that many did not find convincing, Ahmadi Habib, one of the founders of the “You Are the president” campaign, said in a telephone interview with Sada Al-Balad TV Channel that the campaign was aimed at facilitating Shafiq’s return so as to take part in the parliamentary elections and not to compete for the presidency of the republic. He affirmed that they demand his return so as to assist Al-Sisi in resolving the country’s problems with the help of millions of his supporters.

Repeated promises of return

Journalist Mustafa Bakri reported that Prime Minister Mahlab stressed that there was no political decision to ban Shafiq from returning to Egypt. Speaking on television he said that the general is expected to return before the end of the current year.

Despite the fact that Shafiq declared his full support for Al-Sisi on many occasions prior and after assuming the presidency, this has not been sufficient to give him the green light to return to the country in spite of the eclipse of the reign of the Brotherhood. Observers have noted that this reflects the fear Al-Sisi harbours when it comes to Shafiq whom he considers to be a threat to his own rule.

It would seem that Al-Sisi has never forgiven Shafiq for the leak attributed to him just before the last presidential elections and in which he said he would not run in the presidential race because the elections were going to be rigged in favour of the coup leader.

Yahya Qadri stressed that 167 complaints were made against Shafiq by members of the Muslim Brotherhood during the past two years but no ruling had yet been made against him. Qadri has forgotten that it is Al-Sisi who has been ruling Egypt during the past two years and not the Muslim Brotherhood, and particularly since the July 2013 coup.

Translated from Arabi21.

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