Sisi retreat and the victories of the demonstrators ... Learn about the September 20 gifts for Egyptians

Although the Egyptian authorities initially chose to deny the daily demonstrations since September 20, and later turned to recognition while minimizing them, the reality indicates that these same authorities have taken many measures that represent a kind of retreat in the face of protesters' pressure and an attempt to absorb the anger before it escalated .

The most prominent of these government measures was the extension of neglected reconciliation in construction violations, and the reduction of the fine more than once, in addition to the authority party bearing fines for thousands of violations, noting that the authority's demolition of citizens' homes on the grounds of their violation of building requirements and the failure of their owners to pay a fine under the name of reconciliation. The main reasons for igniting the current wave of anger.

In addition to this, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced yesterday, Sunday, the continuation of the government support scheduled for temporary employment for another 3 months until the end of the year, as well as news of a decision to return building permits suspended by Sisi himself for a period of 6 months.

Last week, Egypt witnessed demonstrations, most of which took place at night in several villages in the governorates, in addition to some neighborhoods in Cairo, denouncing Sisi and his regime and demanding his departure, in response to a call by the artist and contractor Muhammad Ali, who owned a contracting company that worked with the army for years before he left Egypt and began to uncover Accidents of corruption and waste of public money involving Sisi and a number of leaders of the army.

The demonstrations reached a climax last Friday, when Egyptians turned out more after Friday prayers and the evening of the same day, in response to the "Friday of Rage" call launched by activists, who said it is just a beginning that will be followed by more "days of rage."

The popular movement began on September 20 in memory of similar demonstrations that took place on the same day last year at the invitation of Muhammad Ali as well, and it was a clear embarrassment to the Sisi regime, which has relied on a violent security grip since it came to power after a military coup led by Sisi in the summer of 2013 when it was Minister of Defense, who suspended the constitution and dismissed the elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Activists interacted with the call, and said that the reasons for the anger are greater than last year, especially with the regime’s expansion of the policy of demolishing the violating homes, and Sisi’s threat to use the army to "exterminate" the violating homes before he backs down and uses the term removal.

Communication sites were ignited with anger at Sisi and demanding his departure, after the spread of videos of the removal of homes and the screaming of the people, and hashtags were issued calling for the departure of Sisi after the Egyptian President repeated his readiness to leave if the Egyptians asked for it, calling for a referendum on his survival.

Scholarship for workers

After a week of demonstrations calling for his departure, Al-Sisi went out yesterday warning those who are taking advantage of people's conditions to mobilize them, claiming that they are subjected to injustice.

In an attempt to calm the anger of those affected by the demolition of homes and the decision to stop construction that affected the daily workers, brick factories and building supplies, Sisi announced the continuation of the government grant for daily workers until the end of the year.

The Egyptian authorities had announced 500 pounds per month (the dollar equals about 16 pounds) for daily workers for a period of 3 months, due to the negative economic effects of the Corona virus on Egyptians.

Egyptian news sites also reported imminent decisions, including the return of building licenses, after stopping them due to the Coronavirus crisis, and the state's campaigns against building violations.

It quoted unnamed sources as saying that Sisi directed the opening of the space for the private sector in major national projects, and the expansion of the participation base for irregular workers, and the government had also begun implementing procedures for re-issuing building licenses.

Extend, reduce and repay

Despite the strictness of the authorities previously and their refusal to extend the deadline, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly announced the day before "Friday of Anger" to extend the deadline for reconciliation in building violations until the end of next October, which is the deadline previously set at the end of this September, which will be followed by the demolition of violating homes. In the event of non-reconciliation and paying the fine.

Madbouly also announced new reductions in the value of the fine, which were previously announced by each governorate individually more than once, reaching about 70% in some areas.

It is interesting that the Mostakbal Watan Party, which has the parliamentary majority and the unofficial heir of the dissolved National Party, announced that it will incur a fine of a thousand violations in every governorate, which numbered 27 Egyptian governorates, in order to reduce the citizens, according to the party.

Also, the same party was controlling the House of Representatives, which approved this law among dozens of laws that angered citizens, including supporters of the authority.

Calm down

Governmental measures were not limited to financial dealings, but extended to security and political calm. In a rare incident, the police released two children who were arrested in the Aswan Governorate, south of the country, on charges of participating in demonstrations.

The release of the two children came after a wave of anger among the people of the southern city, and a number of them staged a sit-in in front of the Security Directorate, and some of them broadcast video clips denouncing the actions of the security services.

A statement was also issued by the Public Prosecutor talking about the release of 68 "children" who were arrested for allegedly participating in the recent demonstrations.

In the same context, the more angry villages witnessed rare visits by parliamentarians and politicians, in an attempt to calm the anger of the people, the most prominent of which was the village of Al-Kadaya, which witnessed the spark of the September 20 demonstrations.

The village, of which most Egyptians had not heard of its name before, went to it, the former police officer Alaa Abed, who was heading the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives with a delegation of politicians, conducted a dialogue with the village elders and asked them to prevent the demonstrations, and promised them to solve the village's problems, especially the closure of the brick factories that are a source Basic livelihood there.

The Al-Kadaya visit was highly welcomed by the regime's media, and they competed in hosting deputies and local officials to talk about the problems of other villages and promised to solve them.