Sisi's attempt to become "president for life" in Egypt

Egypt, where the military coup increases its tyranny with each passing day, is currently going through a new process of constitutional amendment. I would have liked to complete the sentence as "constitutional amendment debates," but in Egypt there is no question of debating a matter whose decision has already been made by Sisi. A process is under way in which everyone, from the parliament to the Constitutional Court, from its remaining open media to the election boards, is doing what is required, that is, completing the formalities.

The constitutional amendments on the agenda open the way for the Presidency, which is currently limited to only two terms of 4 years each, to have three terms of 6 years each. Moreover, by applying the provision to the current presidential term as well, they extend Sisi's current term by two years and grant him the right to run for the next two terms too, thus giving him the possibility of remaining in the Presidency until 2034.

The new constitutional amendments at the same time grant the Egyptian army, for the first time with complete openness, the authority to protect the constitution and the country's stability when necessary. True, this authority has in fact existed since 1952, but until now it did not rest on a constitutional basis. Thus the constitutional ground is thoroughly reinforced for an absolute power in which the army cannot in any way be tried for the murders, unsolved killings and tortures that have emerged from the coups it has carried out by committing crimes of every kind.

In Egypt, whose country has been sinking into an ever greater economic, social and political crisis with each passing day since the moment it carried out the coup, this zeal shown by those responsible for the situation to make their own rule more permanent is a tragic step aimed at closing even the little space left for the freedom-thirsty people of Egypt to breathe.

As the last presidential election, held last year, approached, all the names who announced their candidacy against Sisi, whose candidacy was being discussed, or for whom the possibility of running was foreseen, were arrested regardless of their offices, fame and positions.

One of those names, Ahmet Şefik, who had also run against Morsi, was forced to withdraw by an intrigue based in Dubai. Former Chief of the General Staff Sami Annan, who was regarded with certainty as a winner in a normal election, was arrested a day after announcing his candidacy. Right after that, former Head of the Central Auditing Organization Hişam Cenine was subjected to a knife attack after he began to be mentioned as a candidate. He too was arrested because he held the security forces responsible for this attack. Then Ebulfütuh Abdulmünim, who might have run and whose chance of winning in this environment would again have been certain had he done so, was arrested for criticizing Sisi on Al Jazeera.

Thus Sisi took part in the elections alone. Ah, yes, facing him there was someone whom he himself had nominated so that the formal condition of the election would be met, and who declared in his candidacy announcement that people should not make a mistake and vote for him and that he himself would vote for Sisi: Musa Mustafa Sisi. As expected, the election results ended in Sisi's victory with a figure approaching 99 percent.

Now Sisi is setting up for this constitutional amendment the ballot boxes with which he was able to get such a result, and nobody sees any obstacle to his getting the same outcome. The only thing that could stand in Sisi's way might be the international community raising its voice against this farce. But we have seen enough that nothing can be expected of that international community. The AB leaders, who we know cannot tolerate even the debate on the death penalty, during the very past month, in the days when Sisi executed 9 people, as if slaughtering them, on the basis of testimony taken unlawfully under torture, posed happily with him in Sharm el-Sheikh as if to encourage him, practically congratulating him for these massacres.

One reason Sisi can dare to make these amendments in the first place is that he thinks today's world conjuncture provides him this opportunity sufficiently for now. One of the questions sought to be answered at the panel titled "The New Constitutional Amendments in Egypt: Their Causes and Consequences," held at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs of Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, in which I also took part as a speaker, was this: although Sisi had repeatedly pledged that he would never want such a thing, that is, would not go for a constitutional amendment especially in the direction of extending the presidential term, why is he undertaking such a thing today? Does this timing have a meaning?

Eymen Nur, Chairman of Egypt's liberal Tomorrow of the Revolution Party (Ghad el Savra), had a very striking answer on this in the panel in which I also took part:

"Sisi trusts Muhammed b. Selman, Muhammed b. Zayid and Trump, on whom he leaned in his coup, in all his unlawful practices and in his human rights violations. But in these days he thinks they have no future, owing to the difficulties Trump is going through especially in the ABD and MBS in Saudi Arabia. He wants to hurry to secure himself before they are removed from power. Frankly, he fears that with the end of his presidential term he will be called to account for everything he has done. To avoid giving this account, he sees no way other than making his own rule permanent despite everything."

A constitution is a social contract. But in the process of making or amending the constitution in Egypt, society is entirely sidelined. The amendments made have no aim at all of securing the benefit of the people. The whole aim is for the tyranny that already haunts the country to protect itself and make its rule permanent.

In the land of Pharaoh history is repeating itself, and the president who sees himself above everything, having reached the limits of the human with his present position, is claiming a divine position a little further beyond.

And Egypt's history is precisely a history in which the Pharaohs who aspire to this divine position are destined to meet Moses as well.