Five mishaps in promoting and securing the New Suez Canal

The opening of the New Suez Canal, scheduled to take place on Thursday in a grand celebration, has been projected as the culmination of a national project that proves the competence of the state and the strength of Egyptians.

The measures that have been taken to plan, secure and mark the big day range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The return of the king. Almost.

The announced list of invitees for Thursday’s celebration includes an unexpected guest. The family’s spokesperson Maged Farag announced on his Facebook page that Egypt’s last king Ahmed Fouad accepted an invitation from Egyptian authorities to fly from Switzerland to attend the celebrations.

Fouad was forced to leave Egypt along with the rest of the ruling family in the wake of the 1952 revolution, when Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Free Officers took power.

However, it transpires there will be no royal blast from the past at Thursday's celebrations after all, as Farag announced Sunday that the king cancelled his flight in the absence of an official presidential invitation, deeming his verbal invitation from organizers to be insufficient.

Increasing globophobia

Scary looking balloons were placed in Tahrir Square in anticipation of the big day, inspiring fear rather than joy in passers-by. The big, bear-shaped balloons glare at onlookers with a blank stare that is reminiscent of Chucky the killer doll.

Yemeni take-over

What was meant as a celebration of patriotism ended up looking more like a partial foreign invasion, as hastily produced Egyptian flags were put up around town without the eagle, making them look more like Yemeni flags.

Egypt’s ongoing involvement in a Saudi-led military operation in Yemen makes the mishap even more awkward.

An influx of Belgian dogs

Amid a heightened security alert ahead of Thursday’s opening, some unconventional measures have been adopted. The police announced the import of 1400 trained Belgian dogs to assist with security.

It is not clear what will become of the dogs after the opening. If they don’t join the police permanently, perhaps they will be gifts for the sons of police generals, or will be left to fight it out with baladi dogs on the streets.

Plenty of confusion

Officials have hailed the New Suez Canal project “Egypt’s gift to the world.” However, in early promotional efforts, organizers issued stamps to mark the project that had images of the Panama Canal on them.