Opinion: Egypt’s Sissi is arriving in the White House more authoritarian than ever
President Trump shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in 2017. By Mohamed Soltan April 8 at 3:22 PM Mohamed Soltan is a human rights advocate and founder of the Freedom Initiative.
Sissi’s White House visit comes in the middle of new efforts to further consolidate his power. This year, Sissi’s rubber-stamp parliament proposed amendments to the 2014 constitution that will turn his reign from brutal authoritarianism to complete totalitarianism. Similar amendments have historically sparked popular outrage and instability in the country. The proposed amendments will expand presidential consecutive term limits, allowing Sissi to remain in power until 2034.
But the judiciary, a constitutionally equal branch of government, needed to be subdued delicately and methodically and would not go down without a fight. The judiciary has continued to push back with the regime. Sissi pushed for two contested islands, Tiran and Sanafir, to be ceded to Saudi Arabia. The State Council defied the government’s decision to hand over the islands and reiterated, on legal grounds, that they should remain under Egyptian control. Yehya al-Dakroury, the judge who made the ruling, was subsequently denied a promotion and forced into early retirement.
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