Egypt arrests author, publisher over book on economy

CAIRO: Egypt has arrested an economist and his publisher over a book that challenged President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s economic policies, a lawyer said Tuesday, the latest in a wave of detentions in recent years targeting all forms of dissent.

Prize-winning economist Abdel-Khaleq Farouq and his publisher, Ibrahim el-Khateib, were detained Sunday. Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, a lawyer for the author, said the two are accused of spreading “fake news,” which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

The book — entitled “Is Egypt Really a Poor Country?” — was posted online by activists. Authorities seized 185 copies of an initial 200-copy run, which had not yet been distributed.

The book contains scathing criticism of El-Sisi’s economic policies, accusing the general-turned-president of lacking the vision needed to remedy Egypt’s economic woes.

Farouq blames the country’s poor economy on what he calls the military’s monopoly of power since 1952, when officers toppled the monarchy.

The book’s thesis is primarily a repudiation of an assertion made by El-Sisi that Egypt was a poor country that could no longer afford costly state subsidies on key commodities and services, for decades a cornerstone of state policy to help the poor make ends meet.

In the book’s introduction, the author claims that El-Sisi’s assertion on Egypt’s poverty “exposed blatant ignorance of the realistic and untapped capabilities in Egypt’s economy and society and the lack of vision capable of exploiting these abilities and potential.”

Egypt has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since El-Sisi led the military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. Thousands of people have been jailed, mainly Islamists but also several prominent secular activists....

“The book’s thesis is primarily a repudiation of an assertion made by El-Sisi that Egypt was a poor country that could no longer afford costly state subsidies on key commodities and services, for decades a cornerstone of state policy to help the poor make ends meet.”

Governments in the Muslim world are fragile because the Muslim religion does not recognize any power beyond the religious leader and that is strictly tribal. Tribal leadership is unsuited for governing a country which is generally much larger and more diverse than just a single tribe. Allowing the kind of freedoms we have in the West is inherently dangerous as the ground state of politics is always some Imam who will cause trouble and possibly destroy any national secular national leader. Based on the Economist’s assertion quoted above, it is the economist who doesn’t understand the economy. He could become the focal point of a wedge to destroy what el-Sisi is trying to do. It’s hard for a Westerner to advocate arresting people for their views, but I understand why el-Sisi is doing it. If there is a chance to reform Islam, el-Sisi is one who could have an impact. Will there ever be a time when Muslims can act like Westerners and express any opinion they want? Probably not in our lifetimes.

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