generalspeaking

General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for President!

The near-daily protests of supporters of Mohammed Morsi continues -- with clashes between the protesters and security forces and supporters of the military also continuing. Thousands of Morsi supporters continue to take to the streets; three months after the ouster of the former president, the challenge to the military has not abated.

No political solution to break the deadlock between the opposing camps appears possible. A surge in militant group attacks against security forces continues in the northern Sinai Peninsula along with other parts of the country made volatile by uncertainty, aggression and a collective sense of betrayal. The attacks against the military are carried out by Muslim Brotherhood groups, by Salafist Bedouin, by Hamas-linked groups, and groups loyal to al-Qaeda. They all have much in common.

Explosions laid in tunnels near the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip have taken their toll among Egyptian Army officers as well. Armored vehicles driving over the tunnels are particularly vulnerable.And while the military continues to accuse top leadership in the Brotherhood of incitement and murder, it continues to round up thousands of Brotherhood members.

"We expect el-Sissi to get over 90 percent. That is, of course, if anyone runs against him. When somebody with the status of General el-Sissi runs for president, it will make everyone else who's not qualified to think twice about running against him", said Abdel Nabi Adel Sattar, spokesman for a draft for an el-Sissi presidency.
An unofficial presidential campaign is growing in momentum and popular appeal in Cairo. Organizers of the campaign claim they have over 9 million people representing over ten percent of the population of Egypt, signing up to petition for General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to be popularly elected to head the country back to an official military leadership.

In a country wedded to its traditions, this too is a tradition. Many Egyptians feel it to be nothing if not apt that a new military man of great strength and popularity represents a comfort to Egyptians after three years of political unrest since the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has been ruled by military men coming to power through the armed forces for the past 60 years.

The kind of democracy that brought Mohammed Morsi to the presidency is not one that fits neatly with Egypt's governing needs. Shop windows everywhere are now decorated with a portrait of General el-Sissi; poems, chants and songs are dedicated to him. Refai Nasrallah who initiated the leading Sissi petition campaign even before Morsi's overthrow claims confidence in an el-Sissi presidency.

The campaign to draft the General counts on his huge popularity in a country yearning for stability and strength. Attributes it values far more highly than the nebulous and disappointing vision of democracy which appears to have failed expectations. The General's supporters consider him their nation's saviour. It was he who rescued the country from the failed democracy experiment, after all.

Labels: Celebrity, Conflict, Democracy, Egypt, Human Relations, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, October 19, 2013