After strikes shut down Egypt’s Port Said, opposition eyes trying to expand civil disobedience
By Associated Press
PORT SAID, Egypt — For nearly two weeks, protesters and strikers have shut down much of Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Port Said, filling up the streets with one angry rally after another. At the unrest’s height, they succeeded in closing off a multimillion-dollar port for days, forcing some ships to reroute, and in sealing off a major factory complex.
The strikes in this city of 750,000 at the tip of the strategic Suez Canal rattled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his government in a way that previous protests haven’t, because they directly hit the economy. Opponents of Morsi, some of whom now openly call for his ouster, are looking to Port Said as a model for stepping up their campaign against him with a possible wave of civil disobedience in other parts of the country.
The plans for wider strikes are being pushed mainly by younger revolutionary groups. But in the process they appear to be pulling in opposition politicians, who had previously been reluctant — and at times unable— to step up street action against Morsi and the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. The opposition is searching for a way to organize public anger against Morsi at a time when it has called for a boycott of parliamentary elections due to begin in April. The main opposition political coalition, the National Salvation Front, is considering some forms of civil disobedience, along with street campaigns, to back up its election boycott call.
Ziad el-Oleimi, a former lawmaker and prominent revolutionary since the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, said Port Said’s strikes — triggered a discussion among Morsi opponents on how to develop mechanisms of revolt. One idea is to encourage the public to stop paying electricity and other bills to the government as a sign of protest.
“We are facing a regime that is now immune to popular rallies. The revolution must develop its tactics. Strike and civil disobedience are among the measures that can harm the abilities of authority to rule,” he said. “What is happening in Port Said moves us to a new area, and gives people an example of something they have not tried before.”
Already, calls for strikes in several cities in the Nile Delta have led to clashes. In the Nile Delta city of Mansoura this week, protesters convinced staff at the main government office to go on strike, but pro-Brotherhood residents assaulted their sit-in, beating some protesters. Police then moved in, and clashes have continued between protesters and security forces for the past four days.
A civil disobedience campaign also has its limitations, illustrated by Port Said itself.
Morsi has portrayed those who forced the factory and port closures as “thugs” and “outlaws,” seeking to discredit the protests. Shutting down factories also risks alienating workers reliant on their salaries. In some cases, protesters pressured workers into joining work stoppages.
And though Port Said strikes have been effective, they may be hard to reproduce elsewhere.
Most notably, Port Said is pervaded by an exceptional anger galvanizing the populace in a way not seen in other parts of the country.
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