I worship the state. I am convinced that all Egyptians, regardless of their beliefs, consider the state as their custodian. I am talking here about a state, not something that looks like it. It is the state that the Egyptians had invented and taught to humanity. It is a state that knows what to do, manages my affairs and anticipates and solves my problems.
If you go to a doctor suffering from a headache and he opens your skull and destroys your brain cells, then he is a murderer and not a doctor. By the same token, if a policeman kills me for violating the law, then he is no policeman.
The Ultras are a universal problem that no country, backward or advanced, could evade. In fact, our Ultras are better than those of Europe. Just as any social phenomenon, they need a vision on the part of the state as to how to deal with them, not killers to shoot them. For they are a key part of our future.
Sisi’s problem is that he still has the psychology of a sniper, which is required for a man of the intelligence service because in that field he dealt with an enemy. But he still did not realize that he has moved to a different realm that is governed by the laws of diversity and differences, even over crucial issues. It is a realm where there is no place for hostility as long as we are all committed to one nation and subjected to its laws. And he still did not realize that we are passing through a different and volatile phase that needs new rules and new methods of governance.
Sisi wants to be considered the leader of the third modern Egyptian state that is more mature than that of Muhammad Ali and Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Like many others, I wanted a man to lead the people in accordance with the Constitution of the January and June revolutions. And so I voted for Hamdeen Sabbahi so that Sisi does not become worshiped like a god. For we cannot achieve any development without freedoms. We learned that from our experience with Nasser. The era of this kind of leaders era has long ended.
The excesses and brutality of Sisi’s security services have surpassed those of Nasser and Mubarak. Everyone from the “Active Bloc” was disappointed in him. And he will not make it without that bloc no matter what he tries to do externally because it is the only part that can think outside the box and direct the public towards development.
Sisi will not lead the third modern Egyptian state unless he drops the psychology of hostility and recognizes as a statesman the plurality of the public with its violators and even most rebellious Ultras who are part of our nation. He must know how to attract them to his project, if he has a project in the first place.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
