CAIRO — The civil servants’ uprising against the Civil Service Law has yet to subside. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued this law on March 2 with the aim to replace the employees in the state institutions.

On Sept. 12, the opposition to this law by a number of civil servants and representatives of independent trade unions escalated. The coordination committee of Tadamon (Solidarity) — a movement that includes a number of independent trade unions objecting the law — had announced the expected participation of large numbers of protesters, but the security forces thwarted the protest. Tadamon had issued a statement warning that this might happen 48 hours before the protest.

The secretary-general of the independent Egyptian Teachers Union, Hussein Ibrahim, told Al-Monitor, “Security forces sealed the entrance gates to Fustat Park, where the sit-in was to be held and prevented the protesters from entering. Some citizens objected to our presence in the park, although we did not disrupt traffic. Rather they [citizens] were standing in front of the park gates in the middle of the road, causing traffic problems.”

He said, “The security forces intercepted our colleagues and prevented them from entering the park. The sit-in included more than 300 protesters, but we were expecting thousands."