Cairo // Egypt marked the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak amid heavy security on Monday.
Dozens of masked policemen deployed in several Cairo squares including near Tahrir Square – the centre of the 18-day anti-Mubarak revolt – to prevent potential protests against President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s government.
Egyptian special forces toting machineguns patrolled several Cairo districts, with police armoured vehicles on the streets.
They also boosted security around police stations which were targeted by protesters during the 2011 uprising and which have also been attacked by militants in a growing extremist insurgency.
Ahead of the anniversary, Mr El Sisi vowed a firm response to any unrest and also lavishly praised the police. In an emotional ceremony on Saturday, he posthumously awarded medals to nearly 40 policemen killed by militants.
On Sunday, he paid tribute to the 2011 uprising and the nearly 900 protesters killed in the revolt. Egyptians under his rule, he boasted, were building a “modern” state that upholds democracy and freedom.
Egypt officially observed a double holiday on Monday: Revolution Day, to mark the 2011 uprising, and Police Day.
Some activists took to social media – but not the streets – to express frustration that their demands for freedom and democracy had not been realised.
Many activists instead posted photos from 2011 of Cairo’s Tahrir Square showing it filled with tens of thousands of protesters during the 18-day uprising. Next to them, they posted photos of the square on Monday, showing it empty except for several dozen supporters of Mr El Sisi.
The uprising that overthrew Mubarak’s 30-year-old regime is no longer celebrated after Mr El Sisi, then the army chief, overthrew Mubarak’s successor Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Mr El Sisi ousted Morsi, a key figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, after unprecedented protests against his divisive first year of rule.
Since Mr El Sisi installed the new government, authorities have banned all but police-approved rallies and overseen a crackdown against Morsi supporters.
Several secular and leftist activists who spearheaded the anti-Mubarak uprising have also been jailed.
The Muslim Brotherhood, now classed as a terrorist organisation, was the only group to call for protests on Monday, and a few of its supporters tried to demonstrate in Cairo’s Al Haram district near the pyramids, but quickly dispersed.
In a speech last month, Mr El Sisi warned against any demonstration marking the anniversary.
Mr El Sisi, who does not belong to any political party, won a presidential election in 2014 riding a wave of popularity after ousting Mr Morsi.
A new parliament was inaugurated earlier this month but it is dominated by pro-Sisi lawmakers.
Many Egyptians tired of years of political unrest and instability support Sisi, saying there are no alternatives and that some level of stability has been achieved by his regime.
“The demands of protesters that led to the January 25 revolution still exist. The only reason Egyptians have sacrificed them since then is a hope that the country will achieve stability,” said Hazem Hosni, professor of political science at Cairo university.
Mr EL Sisi still faces serious challenges, including reviving a sluggish economy as investments and tourist revenues fall, and a deadly insurgency led by the Egyptian affiliate of ISIL.
*Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
