CAIRO — His face is on posters, shirts, cupcakes and now campaign banners and billboards across the country. The image of Egypt’s next likely president, ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was iconized well before he declared his candidacy by propagandists, opportunists and supporters soon after he led the military ouster of President Mohammed Morsi last summer amid the nationalist fervor sweeping the country.
At the same time, the art form of graffiti was providing a counternarrative — that of the bloodshed following Morsi’s removal. “Sisi is a killer” was sprayed by supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood across Cairo, and remains on walls even near the presidential palace. A few of Sisi’s billboards feature a splash of blood-red paint across his face, presumably splattered by his detractors.