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Egypt’s great expectations of Sisi have turned to bitter disappointment, says Israeli study

September 30, 2016 at 12:19 pm

An Israeli study claims that after three years of his presidency, Egyptians’ “great expectations” of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi have turned into “bitter disappointment”.

Written by researcher Mira Tzoreff, and published by the Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, the study states that at the beginning of his term, Al-Sisi asked his people for a 730 day grace period to implement his socio-economic road map that he announced would save Egypt from its social and economic crises. However, it is clear that the hopes and expectations that the Egyptians had for Sisi’s road map have faded.

“A real solution to the youth crisis is not yet in sight,” notes Tzoreff, “particularly for the educated and unemployed, who, because of the difficult economic situation, are unable to marry and establish families.” This demonstrates a direct link between youth unemployment and political and socio-economic instability.

The Israeli researcher and historian of modern Egyptian history also reveals that the statistics are not encouraging. “For example, the percentage of unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 29 is 30 per cent, and the number of unemployed youth with higher education is even higher — 34 per cent. As a result, a growing number of young people are migrating to various European countries, many of them illegally, in search of a brighter future.” She points out that the total number of youth leaving Egypt illegally in 2015 was 80,000-90,000, compared to 15,000 in 2009.

On the political level, the study states that Sisi has wielded an iron-fist against the opposition, especially those who were in Tahrir Square in the past few years. He has increased the deployment of security forces. It was later revealed that many of those detained were his own supporters who voted for him in the presidential elections. In his eyes, though, they had turned into enemies of the Egyptian nation, traitors and spies.

The Egyptian president has also adopted new laws that greatly restrict opportunities to protest in public spaces.

The report ends by saying that all of the actions committed by Sisi’s government have driven many of the opposition to flee the country.