Satirist TV host Bassem Youssef, who presents Al-Bernameg TV show, said he wished there was no crackdown on the show adding that the “current regime should be asked about reasons which made [former president] Morsy’s era was more democratic than now.”
In a talk show on the privately-owned TV channel MBC Masr on Sunday, Youssef said that his show will not impede Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, defense minister, from winning the presidential elections, nor would it affect him in the case he won.
Any presidential candidate who wants to prove presence of freedom of expression should never be bothered by any show that criticizes him, Youssef said, adding that continuity of opposition shows that hold the government accountable under any regime shows the presence of democracy.
Youssef was a vocal critic of Morsy’s regime and Islamists, which exposed him to judicial lawsuits on insulting the president and blasphemy. His show was suspended on the privately-owned channel CBC by late 2013 due to mocking pro-Sisi campaigns.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
