CAIRO – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has declared help for the measures taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied on July 25, the very best such endorsement to come back from Egypt.
Throughout a telephone dialog with the Tunisian president on Oct. 6, Sisi mentioned these measures would create a greater future for Tunisia’s individuals.
“They may result in stability to Tunisia,” the Egyptian president mentioned. including that his nation is able to roll out all needed help to Tunisia.
Saied sacked his nation’s cupboard, dissolved its parliament which was managed by Ennahda, an ideological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, stripped his nation’s MPs of their immunity and is opening alleged corruption recordsdata.
These measures initially received help from a large part of the Tunisian individuals, however virtually two months later they are proving divisive, with the Islamists and pro-democracy teams accusing Saied of usurping Tunisia’s hard-won democracy.
Sisi’s endorsement of the Tunisian chief, observers mentioned, is up to now political and symbolic. “Tunisia wants actual help, with overseas events utilizing its accumulating money owed as a strain card,” Laila Hammami, a former Tunisian presidential candidate, advised Al-Monitor.
Sisi was on the coronary heart of the army-backed uprising in opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt in mid-2013, solely a 12 months after the Islamist group, which has spinoffs in virtually all Arab nations, rose to energy in Egypt. As minister of protection, Sisi led the Egyptian military to aspect with these opposing Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi.
He then ran for president and began an all-out crackdown on the Islamist group, placing most of its leaders and senior members in jail, after outlawing it, freezing its belongings and drying up its financing sources.
The Egyptian chief can also be mounting a regional offensive in opposition to the Islamist group, campaigning for its illegalization in different nations. A few of Egypt’s allies, together with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, have already outlawed the group.
“Egypt has an issue with all extremist organizations as a result of it considers them a menace to its nationwide safety,” Muneer Adeeb, a number one Egyptian Islamism researcher, advised Al-Monitor. “Egypt rolls out its experience within the struggle in opposition to these organizations to different nations.”
Saied visited Egypt virtually three months earlier than he took his measures in opposition to Ennahda, main some individuals to guess that he’s being mentored by Sisi.
There’s additionally apparently function reversal in Tunisia’s copying the Egyptian anti-Muslim Brotherhood expertise. Tunisia was residence to the first spark of what got here to be referred to as the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings in 2011, bringing regimes in some nations down and political forces in others up and setting off endless civil wars in nonetheless others.
Egypt was the primary nation to contract the Arab Spring contagion from Tunisia, adopted by neighboring Libya after which Syria and Yemen. Now Tunisia appears to be studying a lesson from Egypt in combating political Islam.
In a approach, this exhibits that developments on the Tunisian political stage will be assuming a regional dimension. Professional-political Islam regional powers are reacting angrily – even in a veiled method – to what’s occurring in Tunisia, and people opposing political Islam support Saied.
For Egypt, native analysts mentioned, Tunisia is a matter of nationwide safety.
“There are numerous similarities between the 2 nations,” Stated Sadek, a political sociology professor on the German College in Cairo, advised Al-Monitor. “Political circumstances in Tunisia can complicate the scenario in Libya, particularly with anticipated makes an attempt by Libya’s Brotherhood to stay on the stage so long as potential.”
The political weakening of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia might reverberate in Libya’s energetic department of the identical motion. Tunisia’s Brotherhood, in line with some reports, provided strong help to its Libyan counterpart over the previous years, together with offering them with provides.
Egypt’s regional rival, Turkey, pinned its hopes on Tunisia’s Islamists to assist flip the nation right into a launch pad for logistical help to pro-Turkey Islamist teams and mercenaries in Libya. Egypt used to sponsor Turkey’s reverse aspect within the Libyan battle, particularly the Libyan National Army which controls most of japanese Libya, together with the realm alongside the shared Egyptian-Libyan border.
Libya has been a safety headache for Egypt because the downfall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011, which induced the North African nation to slip into chaos after which civil conflict. Egyptian authorities say the shared border with Libya had became a smuggling sizzling spot, together with arms for Islamic State terrorists preventing the Egyptian military in Sinai.
The empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Turkey factions in Libya would have induced extra safety issues to Egypt, analysts mentioned.
In June 2020, Sisi drew a red line round most of japanese Libya, threatening to intervene militarily into the nation if Turkey-backed militias entered.
This was apparently why the Egyptian president supported the measures taken by President Saied on July 25. Sisi despatched his Overseas Minister, Sameh Shoukry, to Tunis eight days later to pledge full support.
Within the months since Saied visited Cairo, Egypt has been attempting to supply help to Tunisia, together with by sending medical aid for its rising COVID-19 infections.
Tunisia, a non-permanent Safety Council member, reciprocated by backing Egypt in its row with Ethiopia over its Nile dam, together with by drafting a resolution for a legally binding deal.
However, Sisi’s newest pledge of help to Saied is stirring up hypothesis over what he can supply the Tunisian president whereas his nation wades deeper into its political and economic crises.
Pro and anti-Saied demonstrators are on the streets already, amid accusations for the Tunisian president that he’s charting a brand new despotic course. Tunisia’s financial issues preserve getting worse and the nation’s health crisis continues to be removed from solved.
Developments in Tunisia are additionally elevating international concern. “Tunisia is badly in want of Egyptian help, given Egypt’s regional weight,” Hammami mentioned. “Egypt can use this weight in serving to Tunisia get loans and monetary help from different nations.”
