CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – Prominent Saudi Arabian academics have embarked on rare criticism of the economic model of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, prompting a backlash from the president’s supporters.
Egypt’s economy has struggled in recent months with growing inflation, currency devaluations and a hike in the price of basic food items.
Sisi has insisted that the government knows best and that the crisis is a normal outcome of global factors affecting the rest of the world.
But a number of public figures in the Persian Gulf have challenged Sisi’s reassurances and expressed doubts about his economic model.
Kuwaiti MP Osama al-Shaheen recently warned his government against funding Sisi as part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan deal struck last year.
Even Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adib, known for his close links with Saudi officials, has criticized Sisi’s economic policies and performance. Adib’s daily program, al-Hekaya, airs on the Saudi-funded MBC Egypt channel.
Now influential pro-government Saudi academics and commentators have joined the tirade, going as far as to bluntly criticize the role of the Egyptian military in the economy.
Khalid al-Dakhil, an academic and former columnist at the Saudi al-Hayat newspaper, wrote recently that the current economic crisis in Egypt has its roots in the military coup of 1952 and that Egypt “has not left the mantle of the military since 1952”.
He added that “the army’s control of politics and economy in Egypt has not allowed for a different political-economic alternative”.
Another Saudi academic, Turki al-Hamad, said Egypt’s economy has gone through different stages in modern history. The pre-1952 era was defined by what he called “a flourishing Egypt” model, followed by “the ambitious Egypt” model. He contrasted these models with Sisi’s policies, which he said led to “an Egypt of unemployment, economic and political crises, social dilemmas and violent radical fluctuations that do not belong to any model, neither royal nor republican”.
Hamad is known for his support for Saudi de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia has been one of Sisi’s main allies and financial backers since his military coup in 2013, which ousted Mohamed Morsi.
Along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, Riyadh helped keep Sisi’s economy afloat, with billions of dollars in deposits and aid in the two years after the coup. It is estimated that Egypt has received $92bn from Persian Gulf countries since 2011.