The tensions were palpable last week as Cairo braced itself for a new wave of anti-government protests Sept. 27 spurred by online calls by exiled Egyptian construction contractor Mohamed Ali and other opposition activists for a "million man march" reminiscent of the 2011 uprising. But the mass gathering failed to materialize, thanks in part to a harsh security crackdown on dissent that in recent days has included a sweeping campaign of arrests, the biggest in the country since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi formally came to power as president in June 2014.
Instead, thousands of flag-waving Egyptians gathered in Cairo's eastern neighborhood of Nasr City at mid-afternoon on the day of the planned protests for a state-backed rally, expressing support for Sisi. State employees and other "supporters" from various provinces, the majority of them simple farmers and workers, "were pressured into attending and were ferried by buses to the site of the rally," a witness who published her account on Arabic Post said. Members of parliament were among those who mobilized for the large gathering, enticing people to attend with "food packages" and "monetary bribes," she claimed.
