Egyptian President Holds Austerity Summit | The Compost Bin | Forums

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CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is facing criticism after a massive red carpet was laid over public roads for his motorcade during a trip to open a social housing project in a Cairo suburb, where he preached austerity.

Images of the giant red carpet prompted a wave of ridicule on social media, with a hashtag mocking the carpet trending in Arabic. A local newspaper devoted much of its front page Monday to the incident.

“How is the president asking us to tighten our belts while the 4 kilometre red carpet says otherwise?” read a headline in Al-Maqal newspaper, whose editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Eissa, is one of Egypt’s most prominent TV commentators.

El-Sissi, who as military chief led the overthrow of an elected Islamist leader in 2013, has staked his legitimacy on reviving the economy after years of unrest, including by trimming costly state subsidies, a theme he touched upon at Saturday’s event.

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