Egypt’s economic crisis takes protests to street

Egyptians from all walks of life have held demonstrations across Egypt to protest against the incumbent military-backed government’s economic policies and its crackdown on dissent, Press TV reports.

On Tuesday, protesters took to the streets in many Egyptian cities to express their resentment of the fast deteriorating living conditions for millions of people, and the continuous breach of the human dignity in the country.

The rallies were organized by a new Egyptian youth movement called “We’re fed up.” The movement denounces what they call the dominion of corrupt, powerful and rich elite on Egyptians.

For weeks, the movement has been calling for anti-government protests to highlight the cause of the alienated workers in Egypt, and unprecedented government failures in various spheres.

“Kids died in hospitals because of power outages that hit Egypt recently. Most provinces have no clean drinking water. We are fed up. I hope it won’t be too late for every Egyptian to realize that we are drowning,” Ragayi Ali, an Egyptian worker, told Press TV.

Egypt’s anti-coup alliance, the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy (NCSL), also joined the Tuesday protests, condemning what it calls the Cairo government’s security and legal crackdown on opposition and its failure to curb terrorism.

The Egyptian government has admitted its failure in facing up to critical problems in energy and health sectors as well as the quality of education, where the Arab country recently ranked last among 146 nations in an international report.

Egypt has been the scene of anti-government protests with continuous clashes between security forces and the supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi since his overthrow in July last year.

Rights groups say the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has left over 1,400 people dead and 22,000 arrested, while some 200 people have been sentenced to death in mass trials.