For Egyptians, the only signs that an election is imminent are the posters of President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s face plastered on every available wall and billboard across the country. The repetitive images of Sisi – always gazing into the distance with a stiff, forced smile – are so ubiquitous that people have turned to the only venue for free expression they have left and have begun making memes of them to share online. With little prospect of a free and fair election, most Egyptians are more concerned with Israel’s assault on Gaza, just over a border in the Sinai that has long remained closed, amid unprecedented warm relations with Israel, including Sisi meeting openly prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even so, Sisi skirted a longstanding ban on public protest and designated a single day and specific areas for the public to demonstrate over Gaza in a bid to manage public anger. This plan backfired when crowds of demonstrators marched to Cairo’s Tahrir square, the site of the 2011 uprising to demand the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
