State officials warn against participating in 25 January protests

Over the last week, Egyptian state officials have taken pains to warn citizens against taking part in events and protests to mark the anniversary of the January 25 revolution.

Leading religious clerics, newly elected parliamentarians, state-appointed trade union leaders and mainstream media figures have all warned citizens against destabilizing the country and the ramifications this might have, as the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising approaches amid a wave of renewed criticism of police brutality nationwide.

The secretary general of the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), Mohamed Wahballah, urged workers to actively confront protesters and calls to commemorate the January 25 uprising, at a press conference on Sunday in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

“Egypt's workers will maintain its stability and will not believe malicious rumors. They will stand up against all those who call for demonstrations on 25 January next year. This is for the sake of Egypt," Wahballah said.

He praised Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidency, and maintained workers would refrain from participating in strikes and labor protests for the sake of economic growth.

Wahballah, like the rest of the ETUF’s leadership, was appointed by the Ministry of Manpower in 2011 to oversee the state-controlled labor federation. Elections were last held in 2006, and are now five years overdue. Sisi issued a presidential decree to extend the governance of the unelected ETUF leaders by another year.

The staunchly pro-Sisi television anchor Ahmed Moussa called on the state to take all necessary measures to ensure January 25 protests do not go ahead. On his talk show on the privately owned Sada al-Balad channel, Moussa claimed those calling for protests on January 25, 2016 are “seeking to burn down the country.” He asserted that “Egypt is in a state of war,” and thus protests must not be tolerated.

“Stay at home, I’m warning you,” Moussa urged potential protesters, calling on police, prosecutors and judges to take all necessary action against them. Moussa criticized the UN secretary general and the US administration for defending the right to peaceful protest.

Additionally, the grand mufti’s consultant, Ibrahim Negm, speaking on the “Voice of the People” on Al-Mehwar channel on Monday, asserted that protesters killed by security forces in unauthorized rallies must not be considered martyrs.

Last week, Egypt's Endowments Ministry released a template Friday sermon for preachers to urge their listeners not to heed "destructive calls to destablilize the nation," referring indirectly to calls for protests on January 25.