THE freshly minted presidency of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has got off to an embarrassing start. The turnout for the poll on May 26th-27th that was supposed to provide civilian camouflage for a military dictatorship was lower even than expected—so low, indeed, that polling stations were kept open for a third day in the hope that more Egyptians could be enticed into them. The election has thus failed to provide the former general with the stamp of legitimacy that he was hoping for.Mr Sisi’s true popularity is hard to measure. Most Egyptians, exhausted by three-and-a-half years of turbulence since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown after 30 years of stultifyingly repressive rule, still probably wish him well. But a strongman’s allure can fade fast. And unless he changes direction, Egypt could slide back to where it was in 2011, with a populace just as angrily frustrated and as ready to oppose a dictator, should they come to see him as malevolent.Goose-stepping down the wrong roadMr Sisi must loosen up both politics and the economy. So far he has shown scant readiness to do either. He has been viciously intolerant of dissent expressed not just by those suspected of supporting...
from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1nxrbkc
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