The severity of the Egyptian authorities’ crackdown on dissidents in recent years has left many activists unwilling to defy the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The waves of political activism that preceded the 2011 revolution and peaked in the wake of that uprising have been fading since the military coup of July 2013. Fewer and fewer democrats and human rights activists are willing to subject themselves to the regime’s wrath, which can include military trials as well as “torture, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances,” according to Human Rights Watch.
Given this environment, it was a surprise when a series of short, straightforward videos started to flood Egyptian social media networks on Feb. 6, featuring citizens from various backgrounds making a unified statement: “I am an Egyptian citizen, and I say no to the constitutional amendments.” If adopted, the government’s proposed amendments could pave the way for Sisi to stay in office until 2034. (When he was the country’s defense minister, Sisi led the 2013 coup that ousted then-President Mohamed Morsi before becoming president himself a year later.)
As it stands, Egypt’s Constitution, drafted and adopted in January 2014 in the wake of the coup, stipulates that no amendments may be made to the article that limits the presidency to two four-year terms. This is exactly what pro-Sisi forces are trying to change. After the idea was first floated in the media by pundits known for their ties to the country’s rulers, the amendments were proposed in Parliament, which provisionally approved them on Thursday.
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