Hassan El Masry - Cairo
"From the other, our soul is cut off and no one is helping us to object to the policies of the regime." Egyptian youth Mohamed Abdel Rahim justified the silence of the street towards the deteriorating economic conditions and the rise in prices, most recently fuel.
"There is no longer any point or benefit to my opinion," he said. "Those who object are blocked in the prisons of the regime, who will not hesitate to drown him on charges of violating the law of protest, but also overthrow the regime and terrorism, if not disappear forcibly."
For the fifth time since the military coup, and the fourth since the end of 2016, the authorities decided to raise fuel prices by between 16 and 30 percent under the agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
The government says it is working on an economic reform plan, at a time when opponents say it only implements the conditions of the International Fund to liberalize the exchange rate and raise subsidies on ration goods and fuel, without taking into account the social dimension or to develop a plan to increase production and economic renaissance.
According to economic analyst Mohammed Atwa that the major problem in the plan to lift support is the absence of social protection programs to ensure that the middle and poor classes are not affected.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he stressed that the state's tendency to fully support the rest of the services and increase taxes will have significant inflationary effects on increasing the prices of various goods and services.
In conjunction with the decision to increase prices, news sites and press reports were reported to raise the state of readiness in the security services, and the spread of police cars near the gas stations, in anticipation of angry reactions from citizens. But the streets of Cairo were enveloped in silence, and only anger erupted on the websites.
More than 40 years ago, the late President Anwar Sadat announced an increase in the prices of basic foodstuffs such as bread, 50% sugar, 25% tea and 35% tea, and others, to explode the streets with angry demonstrations in the so-called bread uprising of 1977. The regime called it the "Haramah uprising" and led to a reversal of the decision.
In previous statements, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi pointed out that the retreat of the state from what he described in the decisions of economic reform in 1977 led to the aggravation of crises and the collapse of the economy, stressing that the solution was easier then.
Historian Mustafa Sultan believes that the current system inherited the Sadat and Mubarak regime, and Sadat's bias was clear to the rich at the expense of the poor. He added during a blog post on Facebook that Sadat tried to create a capitalist class through the policy of economic openness. He raised prices and worked to tie the opposition. Official newspapers to talk about a communist scheme to cause confusion and unrest in the country.
| The suppression of freedoms and economic burdens made the Egyptians in a state of silence applied (Al Jazeera) |
Was the regime's fear of a repetition of the bread uprising in the wrong place, where the Egyptians moved only in cyberspace, while the silence of the street? This silence is interpreted by the young man Mohammed as systematic repression.
The citizen who works in the accounting for Al-Jazeera Net says that under conditions contrary to the principles of the January 25 revolution, he is only thinking about spending his day in peace, even though the increase in fuel prices has directly affected him. The salary of one thousand pounds (EGP 17) For transportation after the increase in the fare, adding, "This is far from the high prices expected in the markets."
Jad Khalife, a young man, is aware that he does not miss a claim. "Where did they demand the right of the January 25 Revolution? Where are those who called for better living and human treatment?"
Khalifa explained to Al-Jazeera Net that the problem is that there is no organization that unites the ranks and makes the street legitimately object to the policy of collection towards the middle class, as well as the poor class, which is crushed by high prices.
| Economic crises have led to social problems may cause the explosion of the street (island) |
Psychological consultant Mohamed Hani Abdel Fattah says that the political scene - crowded with events and events - does not occupy much of the attention of the street as much as the difficulty and the impact of economic conditions that force everyone to try to confront them, "adding, especially with the betrayal of opponents and put them in prison "He said.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the psychological expert pointed out that the continuing bad news has made everyone alienated from dealing with political issues in the light of the regime's policy of intimidation.
The young man here is arrested because of a publication on the sites of communication, what do we expect to remain silent about what is going on? This is how the political analyst Wael Syed interpreted the silence of the street, pointing out that the regime has been working since its inception to elaborate a package of laws to unify the authority and devote one opinion as the law of protest, which has been arrested for many without trials.
The analyst explained the political opinion of the arrest of dozens of citizens on charges of destabilizing public security and gatherings, after expressing anger at the subway stations after raising prices for tickets last year.
He added that the law of terrorist entities issued by the Sisi in 2015 contains broad provisions against all those who oppose, becoming a terrorist according to police investigations only, which gave the law powers as wide as before the revolution of 25 January.
For his part, Professor of Sociology Rashad Abdul Latif believes that the voice of despair of change is growing in the street because of the difficult economic conditions and the lack of interest of the authorities in the opinions of citizens.
He pointed out that the economic conditions led to the emergence of many social problems such as high rates of suicide and crimes such as theft and murder and increase divorce, warning of the case of an explosion may fall towards that policy, as happened in the revolution of January 25 and before the bread uprising.