The government’s resignation came as Hamdeen Sabbahi, a prominent candidate for the election, told AFP he fears a return to autocracy in Egypt three years after its Arab Spring uprising.
While his chances of winning against Sisi are seen as slim, Sabbahi said young members of his leftist Popular Current, which he founded in 2012, encouraged him to run.
Youths who took part in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak “feel that their revolution was being stolen… as their comrades were being jailed and some killed before their eyes,” he said in an interview.
More than seven months after Morsi’s overthrow, Egypt remains battered by protests and militant attacks that have damaged its vital tourism industry and scared off investors.
Beblawi’s government has announced two stimulus packages funded by Arab Gulf states, but still faces accusations of incompetence, even by supporters of Sisi who considered the government a liability.
The extension of the crackdown on Morsi’s supporters to more secular activists has also alienated some former government supporters who favoured Morsi’s overthrow.
Some leading secular activists who spearheaded the overthrow of Mubarak and then called for Morsi’s ouster have since been jailed for unauthorised demonstrations.
But for many Egyptians who want Sisi for president, the priority is the stability they believe the field marshal can restore.
About The Author
