After Egypt became a boiling pot of widespread protests in 2011, the only Eurafrasian nation transformed into one of the most adverse countries in the world. When the military removed President Morsi from power in a coup d’etat in 2013, an interim government was installed and everything went downhill from then on. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian Armed Forces, took the power, and this is what the most prominent political figure in Egypt is all about instead of protecting the people from violence and hunger - a frigging red carpet.
A red carpet that stretches over 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), to be more specific. The video below features only a portion of the textile floor covering on which Egyptian state officials drove on Saturday.
For a country that finds itself in the most crippling situation since the end of Ottoman rule in 1867, a 2.5-mile long red carpet should be the last thing on Abdul Fattah el-Sisi’s must-do list.
The hypocrisy of it all beggars belief, more so if you consider that the red carpet was used by the presidential motorcade to visit a social housing project in a suburb of Cairo. Amid recent comments about the need to cut government subsidies, the President of Egypt should’ve thought this through before placing an order for a red carpet that rivals all red carpets in Hollywood taken together.
Rolling out this atrocity on the streets of Cairo is as if Egypt’s President trampled on the people’s money. Buying duvets for those poor souls who are freezing in the cold would’ve been a better thing to do. Better still, the photo was tweeted shortly after el-Sisi gave a speech in which he warned that Egypt couldn’t continue to subsidize water and electricity bills for low-income families.
The worst offender, however, is the deputy head of the military’s moral affairs department. Ehab el-Ahwagy told the CBC television station, “We want to give the impression that Egypt is moving in the right direction, and we want to present a bit of joy to our people.” This is as wrong as politics can get, full stop.
For a country that finds itself in the most crippling situation since the end of Ottoman rule in 1867, a 2.5-mile long red carpet should be the last thing on Abdul Fattah el-Sisi’s must-do list.
The hypocrisy of it all beggars belief, more so if you consider that the red carpet was used by the presidential motorcade to visit a social housing project in a suburb of Cairo. Amid recent comments about the need to cut government subsidies, the President of Egypt should’ve thought this through before placing an order for a red carpet that rivals all red carpets in Hollywood taken together.
Rolling out this atrocity on the streets of Cairo is as if Egypt’s President trampled on the people’s money. Buying duvets for those poor souls who are freezing in the cold would’ve been a better thing to do. Better still, the photo was tweeted shortly after el-Sisi gave a speech in which he warned that Egypt couldn’t continue to subsidize water and electricity bills for low-income families.
The worst offender, however, is the deputy head of the military’s moral affairs department. Ehab el-Ahwagy told the CBC television station, “We want to give the impression that Egypt is moving in the right direction, and we want to present a bit of joy to our people.” This is as wrong as politics can get, full stop.
IMAGE: Red carpet rolled out for Egyptian President's convoy of cars sparks anger across country. pic.twitter.com/3E5Kvk0SLb
— The Int'l Spectator (@intlspectator) February 8, 2016