A Twitter battle has broken out between two hashtags, one critiquing the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and another supporting him.
The military general, who overthrew the democratically-elected President Mohammad Morsi in a 2013 coup, was once hugely popular in the country. More recently, however, there has been growing discontentment in Egypt, particularly about the state of the economy. As the Egyptian pound has plummeted against the dollar, the state has undertaken what has been described as “an economic war on poor citizens”.
Nonetheless, there remain those who support Sisi, and attitudes towards their leader are contentious among Egyptians. This has played out on social media with the development of rival hashtags in Arabic: “A word for Sisi the failure” and “continue your success, Sisi”.
عن كمية الإستقطاب اللى فى الهاشتاجين دول .. !!#كمل_نجاحك_ياسيسي#كلمه_للسيسي_الفاشل
— العيسوي ツ (@mt_elesawy) November 21, 2016
What is this polarity that has created these two hashtags? #AWordForSisiTheFailure #ContinueYourSuccessSisi
The majority of the posts were critical of the President:
انت الفشل بعينه ويجري الفشل في دمك
— سعيد جمعان الزهراني (@34546800) November 21, 2016
#كلمه_للسيسي_الفاشل
You are failure itself, and failure runs in your blood
اقوله ي خاين يجيلك يوم ..#كلمه_للسيسي_الفاشل
— فلسفةة عاطل (@sa71630763) November 21, 2016
I say to you, you failure, a day of reckoning is coming
Only a minority were on the side of the President, an indication perhaps of overall public opinion:
#كمل_نجاحك_ياسيسي
— Egypt First (@wagihsheir) November 21, 2016
الكل يوسع الكل يحاسب ..مصر راجعه زي الصارووووخpic.twitter.com/D8YCo4GTYv
Clear the way, Egypt is coming back, faster than a rocket!
#كمل_نجاحك_ياسيسي
— m.kamal (@mkamal791983) November 21, 2016
مش لوحدك هتكمل
معاك شعب معاك دعوات أمهات
معاك دم شهيد مات
وفوق ده كلة
معاك حب ناس واثقة فيك
هتنجح بعون الله
You will not be alone as you continue. A people is with you - the prayers of mothers are with you. The blood of martyrs is with you. And more than that. The love of a people who trusts in you is with you. You will succeed with the help of God
ربناا كرمناا بيك#كمل_نجاحك_ياسيسي pic.twitter.com/uYgNqESall
— hanan.ahmed (@Hanan_Lorita) November 21, 2016
God blessed us with you
(Picture: “before and after” #LookWhereWeWereAndWhereWeAreNow)
Small protests have been staged recently in the country against the economic conditions, suggesting that perhaps this social media debate might soon spill over to Cairo’s streets.
RA
