In this fasting month of Ramadan, Egyptians have to deal with record inflation to garnish their tables once the sun has set. It is a repercussion of the war in Ukraine. Also, in the face of the gloom and uncertainties of daily life, a television series takes care to change their minds by playing on the patriotic fiber: Al-Ikhtiyar 3, (The Choice≈3), one of these soap operas designed to accompany Ramadan evenings, propels President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi into a fictional hero. A hagiography that makes him the white knight of Egypt.
Halfway between political drama and action film, this third season of Choice, broadcast from April 2 to 1er May, follows the period 2012-2013, when Sissi becomes Minister of Defense of President Mohamed Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter was overthrown by the army in 2013 – he died in prison in 2019. Key figures of the brotherhood that has become banned in Egypt are also embodied in the series which mixes archive images and fiction.
Unsurprisingly, the former marshal, who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist since 2014, appears there with eminently flattering features. Wise and patriotic, benevolent, concerned about his family and his soldiers, devoid of any thirst for power, he presents himself as a bulwark against chaos and extremism. “I have no other interest than that of my country”, proclaims the character Sissi, played by actor Yasser Galal.
An already almighty power
This season has triggered an avalanche of reactions. In loyalist ranks, the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram rent one ” document “ major “on the conspiracies that Egypt has gone through in the last ten years”. On the other hand, the information site Mada Masr, considered one of the last strongholds of the independent press, highlights the mixture of genres in a series of “political propaganda” which notably uses recordings of meetings of the Muslim Brotherhood.
On the Lebanese website Al-Modon, Egyptian writer Shadi Lewis believes thatAl-Ikhtiyar only “recycle the same narrative – highlighting an existential danger – to distract Egyptians from other issues, such as declining living standards. Egyptian opponents are up against this new manifestation of an already all-powerful power: in 2019, the Constitution was amended to extend the length of the presidential term from four years to six years and pave the way for a third candidacy for Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi in 2024.
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