Will General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi return to Egypt?

For the first time since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power in Egypt, there have been wide protests against him in Cairo and other cities. The protesters have called for his dismissal due to growing corruption.

There were wide protests against el-Sisi in Alexandria, Suez, Damietta, Dakahlia and Gharbia. Images have been spread on social media showing that protesters have taken down and ripped large pictures of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Dozens of people were arrested in Tahrir Square, where the Egyptian revolution flared against Husni Mubarak in 2011. Police used tear gas extensively, and security forces rush in the streets to react to smallest movement.  

The protests were formed at the request of a campaign on social media launched by Muhammad Ali, exiled businessman. Muhammad Ali who is exiled in Barcelona, Spain asked to overthrow el-Sisi. The Egyptian contractor, who exposed el-Sisi’s corruption cases, urged Egyptians to come to the streets and launch a revolution against him.

The people’s anger was aroused when Muhammad Ali posted files about the corruption of the President and the Egyptian army on social media. These files revealed that they wasted public treasury on the projects that have no benefits for Egyptian people, such as building Egyptian presidential palaces.

From the analysts’ view, the Egyptian army is accused of entering in all economic projects, and making certain companies to carry out the projects. Senior officers have also been paid by these projects, in addition to their salaries.

The supervisors believe that base on the Constitution, the Egyptian army goes beyond the observation of the parliament. It makes the army a closed and non-transparent organization that is not audited. No one knows how much funding and foreign financial assistance does it receive, how much domestic investment projects does it have, or how much it costs.

The question is that, after the protests by the Egyptians against Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will he keep his promise and step down? He has stated repeatedly that if Egyptian people want him to leave, he would not hesitate for a moment.

 Anyway, we should wait and see how el-Sisi will deal with these protests. Will he respond them with iron fist, and call their actions a planned intrigue for destabilizing Egypt? He recently had collective and individual meetings with military and security commanders to make sure that whether there will be a harsh confrontation with opponents, or he should consider another process. He left Egypt for New York last Friday night to attend the UN General Assembly meeting.

Nobel Prize winner Tawakkol Karman referred to Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s trip as a non-return trip, and posted on Twitter, “ousted el-Sisi will not return to Egypt and that is for sure.”