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Egypt’s man of destiny – for a while
Editorial - To the vast surprise of absolutely nobody, Field Marshal Abdel Fatah al-Sisi won the Egyptian presidential election last week. Moreover, he won it with a majority that would pass for a resounding triumph in most countries. But it is a disarmingly modest majority for an Arab Man of Destiny. Not for Sisi the implausible margins of victory claimed by Men of Destiny in other Arab countries, like the 96.3 Gwynne Dyer per cent that Egypt’s last dictator, Hosni Mubarak, claimed in his first election 21 years ago, or the spectacular 100 per cent that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein allegedly got in his last election in 2002. No, Sisi just claimed 93.3 per cent of the votes, a number low enough that it might actually be true. Sisi’s real problem is that even with the media cowed and the full resources of the state behind him, only 46 per cent of eligible Egyptians turned out to vote. He had confidently predicted an 80 per cent turnout. As an aspiring dictator who overthrew the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, only one year ago, Sisi needed a big turnout. At least 1,500 protesters have been shot dead in the streets, and a minimum of 16,000 political dissidents are in jail. Sisi has shut down a popular revolution and he needed to demonstrate massive public support for what he did. He didn’t get it. Towards the end of the scheduled two days of the election, the people around him panicked. The interim prime minister, Ibrahim Mahlab, let slip that barely 30 per cent had voted so far—and the regime abruptly announced that there would be a third day of voting. An unscheduled public holiday was declared, and non-voters were threatened with a large fine. In the end, Sisi’s officials claimed a 46 per cent turnout, although journalists reported that many polling booths were almost empty on the third day. But let’s be generous and assume that 40 per cent of eligible Egyptians did vote. If 93.3 per cent of those people truly did vote for Sisi, then he has the support of just over one-third of Egyptians. Other Arab dictators have ruled their countries for decades with no more popular support than that, but it will probably not sustain Sisi through the hard times that are coming. Too many Egyptians are struggling just to feed their families. Egypt’s economy is running on fumes, and there would not
even be enough bread for people to eat—Egypt is the world’s largest importer of wheat—if Sisi were not getting massive infusions of aid from Saudi Arabia and most of the smaller Gulf states, which are very happy that he is killing off the Egyptian revolution. But even the great wealth of the Gulf kingdoms cannot win Sisi more than a breathing space: all of them together have only about a third of Egypt’s population. And there is no good reason to believe the Egyptian army, which is now effectively in charge, has the skill to resolve the country’s grave economic problems. Indeed, its highest priority will be to protect its own massive business empire. Sisi talks about how Egyptians “must work, day and night, without rest” to restore the economy after three years of revolutionary chaos, and his budget plan calls for slashing energy subsidies by 22 per cent in one year. Austerity is not going to win him any thanks from Egypt’s poor, however, and his political honeymoon will not last long. What will happen after that can be predicted from the results of Egypt’s only fully free election two years ago. Mohamed Morsi and another Islamist candidate got a total of 42 per cent of the votes in the first round of that election, while the leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi, got 21 per cent. (Morsi won in the second round, when Sabahi and two other candidates had dropped out.) We can safely presume that few Islamist supporters voted at all in last week’s election. It’s clear that most of Sabahi’s former supporters also abstained: he was the only candidate who dared to run against Sisi, but he only got 3 per cent this time. Islamists and leftists therefore make up the majority of the 55-60 per cent who did not vote for Sisi this time—and that is good news for him, because the two groups have very little in common. Those who did vote for Sisi were mostly people with no strong ideological convictions who were simply exhausted by the turmoil of the past three years. They voted for “stability”, and believed Sisi’s promise that he could deliver it. So as long as they go on believing that, a deeply divided opposition poses little threat to him. But most of the people who voted for Sisi thought that when he said “stability”, he really meant an improvement in their living standards, and it’s most unlikely that he can deliver that. When they lose faith in Sisi, the opposition will achieve critical mass, and it probably won’t take more than two years. The Egyptian revolution is not over yet.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Liberals simply ignore the debt crisis
Dear Editor, The province of Ontario is deeper in debt than any other jurisdiction in North America yet the Liberals’ major platform admits it will spend even more taxpayer dollars which will inevitably bankrupt the government coffers. Liberals scoff at Conservative leader Tim Hudak’s intention of producing thousands of new jobs, saying he will actually eliminate jobs, yet the Liberals are the party that has significantly reduced the job market with extreme business regulations and ridiculously high hydro rates. Hundreds of good businesses have decided to leave Ontario in order to survive. Although they are hesitant to admit, Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal buddies have swung so far left, they are now even more extreme socialists than the NDP. Just remember when you go the polls to cast your ballot,
Quinte West News P.O. Box 25009, Belleville, ON K8P 5E0 250 Sidney Street Phone: 613-966-2034 Fax: 613-966-8747 Published weekly by:
if this Liberal government was a family with annual income of $50,000, each of you would have $112,500 in credit card debt and would be adding $5,000 to the credit card bill every year. Does that sound like Wynne and her socialists know what they’re doing? Plagued with scandals that add up to billions of dollars the Liberals have stolen from the taxpayers, how can the presiding government have the basic gall to try to make you believe otherwise? The modus operandi is to continue to lie as they attempt to cling to power. Isn’t it about time to send these Liberals a strong message that you shouldn’t be rewarded for being basically dishonest for the past decade?
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Singing the blues By Terry Bush
Editorial - It’s a dream come true for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The dust has settled and the Stanley Cup finals are under way with both coasts of the USA represented in the final showdown. Not only are both coasts highlighted but the country’s two premier cities will be showcased as well, New York City and Los Angeles. I’m sure Bettman’s pillow is soaked each and every night from the drool creeping out of the corners of his perma-smile. And the best part for Gary is of course there are none of those darn Canadian teams involved that might dissuade American viewers from tuning in to NBC. Bettman may even escape a few of the usual boos that rain down on him every year when he presents the cup. But then again, that has become a Stanley Cup tradition especially for the fans present who have some knowledge of the goings on in Bettman’s quest to Americanize the product. It will be a Stanley Cup final for the ages. There will be countless celebrities within camera range in both arenas wanting to be seen and possibly heard. Some may even know a little bit about hockey. But I’m a little bitter about the outcome myself. I was really hoping for a Chicago/Montreal finale but alas, it was not to be. I would have had a hard time picking a team to cheer for in that scenario anyway. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Chicago Blackhawks and that’s also the team my wife Mare was cheering for, though she doesn’t pronounce the word Blackhawks the same way I do. I think that’s a woman thing. Two much emphasis on the “k” after the “c”. By cheering for, I mean occasionally asking if the Hawks were winning as she walked past the TV on her way to check her email. She’s pretty much lost interest since her man Jerome Iginla was eliminated when Boston bit the dust. Mare just loves Jerome, not for his hockey skills so much but because he has a nice smile and she thinks he’s a friendly guy. I liked the Hawks because I loved them as a kid in the 60s when Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita were at their zeniths and I was one card shy of a full set of Chicago hockey cards. I’d love to have them back along with my Beatles cards but both are sadly in the Stirling dump after someone decided to clean out the basement. I was also cheering for the Blackhawks because Belleville boy Andrew Shaw is on the squad and you’ve got to support your local talent especially a gamer like Shaw. Same deal with the Habs. Loved the way Dustin Tokarski stepped in and basically stood on his head to give the Canadiens a chance at the final after Carey Price was injured. And the fact that PK Subban used to play for the Belleville Bulls was certainly taken into consideration. But it wasn’t to be and even more disappointing than my teams being eliminated is the fact that two of my favourite anthem singers won’t be singing in the Stanley Cup final. Is there anyone who wasn’t inspired by Ginette Reno’s singing of our national anthem? Sure, most of it was in French and many of us have long since forgotten the words we learned in school but Ms. Reno’s no-nonsense approach was appreciated by the fans and players. No fist pumping, thumbs up, winks or any distractions, just an awesome performance followed by a couple of handshakes with players on the bench. I could swear Ginette flew her tanned self in from Florida each week for the occasion. In contrast, Rene Rancourt’s dye job and fist pumping just didn’t do it for me during the Bruins’ series. He must be an acquired taste. Same thing with the Rangers’ John Amirante. Not a great singer and not a great rug. He’s a New York tradition obviously and they’ll keep him around as long as he can still sing but The Big Apple is home to Broadway after all so it’s not as if there’s nobody with better chops waiting in the wings to take his place. The Chicago Blackhawks have one of the best anthem singers in the NHL in Jim Cornelison. When he gets going on the Star Spangled Banner, I always feel a strange compulsion to enlist in the U.S. Army for some reason and it’s not because a couple of veterans past and present are standing nearby. There’s something about the way he sings it full throttle that’s almost inspiring, not quite inspiring enough to make it to the final but it did take the Hawks to game 7 and then to overtime. On another note, has anyone else noticed that there always seems to be guns involved during the singing of the U.S. anthem? Just not quite sure what weapons have to do with a hockey game other than the fact that games are often referred to as battles. We don’t see that on a regular basis in Canada but then again, vive la différence. The closest we’ve come was seeing Lyndon Slewidge in his OPP uniform. Another great anthem singer but I could do without the wink and thumbs up silliness. Finish the song and smile at a job well done Lyndon. One of these decades, you might just make it to the finals too.
EDITORIAL Editor Terry Bush, 613-966-2034, ext 510 tbush@metroland.com Belleville News Terry Bush tbush@metroland.com Quinte West News Kate Everson kate.everson@gmail.com PRODUCTION Glenda Pressick, 613-966-2034, ext 520 gpressick@theemc.ca
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