Egypt: Revolutionary Socialists Declare Solidarity with Ongoing Protests

The Revolutionary Socialists (RS) movement in a statement issued on Sunday, 27 September 2020, called for freedom for detainees, confirming that masses have the right to protest, against the backdrop of the on-going popular demonstrations that erupted in Egypt on 20 September against the Sisi regime .

The leftist movement confirmed in its statement the significance of the ongoing protests, stressing that “the importance of the demonstrations that occurred in some Egyptian governorates in recent days is not measured according to their size or degree of spread, nor by the nature of the calls or the callers for them,” confirming that “The significance of these demonstrations can only be measured within the context in which they occurred.”

“The demonstrations that moved in a number of governorates were not huge compared to what Egypt witnessed in not so long periods of time, but they were huge compared to what preceded them in terms of confiscation of all forms of protest and expression, tightening the security grip on all aspects of political and social work, and closing the public space, even in front of attempts to exercise the right to run for elections, wiping out any space for independent media, and the prosecution and imprisonment for anyone who tries to oppose authorities in any way,” the RS statement read.

The statement also said that the current regime “that surpassed all its predecessors in oppression and tyranny was deluded into being safe from any public wrath after silencing all voices, and was already able to implement economic policies, some of which could lead to a popular explosion across the country.

“The decisions that were pursued in a short period, such as raising the ticket price of the underground, railway trains and all transport means, as well as raising the prices of electricity, gas, and water, reducing the weight of the loaf of bread, and other decisions – Any of these decisions were sufficient to trigger protests, but the regime was able to impose them quietly thanks to the security forces that are deployed everywhere in Egypt,” the statement read.

The statement said, “the demonstrations of the past days have come to challenge that regime and announce that protests are still possible, without support of media, parties, trade unions, or any political or popular organization.”

“The security context in which these demonstrations moved makes their real value times their size, and the economic and social context in which they erupted makes them a more honest thermometer than all analyses of what the Egyptians actually suffer,” the statement read.

The RS statement also said that “It may be impossible to know for sure the size of demonstrations and their spread in recent days, due to the media blackout, but what cannot be doubted is that the volume of anger in the street is times greater than those demonstrations.”

The Revolutionary Socialists movement concluded its statement with declaring solidarity with the ongoing popular protests, confirming that it supports “every mass protest against the policies of impoverishment and persecution practiced by the regime.”

It also confirmed that masses have the absolute right to protest and express themselves, rejecting the policies of police prosecution, repression and arrests with which the regime confronted demonstrators.

The RS statement also demanded the release of all detainees and holding all those responsible for the victims of the suppression of demonstrations accountable.