CAIRO: Egyptians started late Friday protests against President Abdel Fatteh Al-Sisi, as people gathered in several places, in one of first protests after the former army general tightened his control over the country.
VIDEO — Egyptians reportedly take to the streets to demand end to Sissi rule as famous Tahrir square flooded with crowds pic.twitter.com/5P5sHhel9M
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) September 20, 2019
Protesters reportedly responded to an online call for a demonstration against government corruption, Reuters witnesses and residents said.
Video footage shared on social media on Friday showed demonstrators gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which has witnessed the uprising in 2011 that lasted with a brutal response to the protestors and toppling of the former President Hosni Mubarak.
VIDEO — Sisi posters burned as Egyptians demand end to former coup general’s regime, Tahrir square flooded with crowdshttps://t.co/NXtYR5o3dh pic.twitter.com/fQSoZ0AoLY
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) September 20, 2019
Protestors also gathered in Alexandria and Gharbiya, a report by Al Jazeera said, calling for the end of Sisi regime.
Friday’s protests came after Egyptian actor and real estate developer Mohamed Ali had posted videos exposing the corruption of Sisi and the Egyptian ruling class.
Ali has called Egyptians to take the streets after a football super cup final between Egypt’s biggest clubs Ahly and Zamalek.
Protests have become very rare in Egypt following a broad crackdown on dissent under Sisi, who took power after the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically-elected president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.
Authorities could not be immediately reached for comment. A pro-government TV anchor said only a small group of protesters gathered to take videos and selfies before leaving the scene.
Mohamed Ali, a building contractor and actor turned political activist who lives in Spain, called in a series of videos for the protest after accusing Sisi and the military of corruption.
On Saturday, Sisi dismissed the claims as “lies and slander”.
Sisi won two elections with 97% of the vote in 2014 and 2018, but his popularity has been dented by economic austerity measures.
Sisi’s supporters say dissent must be quashed to stabilize Egypt, after a 2011 uprising and the unrest that followed, including an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula that has killed hundreds of police, soldiers and civilians.
They also credit him with economic reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund.
COURTESY: Daily Sabah, Al Jazeera, Reuters
