Egypt restricting the sale of yellow vests ahead of revolution anniversary

Egyptian retailer of protective equipment have been instructed by the authorities in the country to restrict the sale of yellow reflective jackets, the symbol of the French protest movement.

the AP spoke with in Cairo claimed four of the egyptian police banned the sale of yellow reflective jackets. The remaining two had stopped selling the vests, but did not state why.

" They seem as if they don't want anyone here acting as you do in France, said a dealer of AP.

" the Police came here a few days ago, and told us to stop selling them. When we asked why, they said that they followed the orders, " said another.

Both wanted to remain anonymous, out of fear of reprisals from the egyptian regime.

egyptian security forces, who also wanted to remain anonymous, the restrictions shall apply until the end of January. According to the officials was called skyddsutrustningsförsäljare and importers to a meeting with high-ranking within the Kairopolisen, who informed about the temporary rules.

the Police's action illustrates the the egyptian regime's anxiety regarding safety. The last two years, the authorities have taken a particularly harsh measures to prevent the protest march on the egyptian revolution anniversary.

https://twitter.com/hahellyer/status/1072406045711130624

”this kind of paranoia is bizarre but familiar. There is not a single egyptian analysts (that possess the a deeper expertise) that I know of who suspect that something like the yellow västarnas protest will break out in Egypt in January 2019. But the mere memory of the 25 January is enough,” writes analyst at the international think tank Atlantic Council, H A Hellyer, on Twitter.

as hundreds of thousands – and then millions – of egyptians demonstrated against the then dictator, Hosni Mubarak. 18 days later he was set aside.

The yellow reflexvästarna carried by the protesters in France, has become the symbol of the protest movement that seized hold of the country in recent weeks. From the beginning, demonstrated against the height of the diesel tax, but now you will hear other requirements – including that the president of Emmanuel Macron to resign.

Image 1 of 2 rally in Paris on 8 december. Photo: Mehdi Chebil Slide 2 of 2 Demonstrations in Belgium, 30 november. Photo: Pia Gripenberg Slideshow

The tightly controlled egyptian press coverage of the yellow packs in France have stressed the vandalism in Paris – something that echoes the egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's approach to street protests: it always leads to chaos.

for the first time, specifically the egyptian revolution, and claimed that it led to the political and economic turmoil. In previous years, when the revolution was closer in memory, rested Sisi's political legitimacy to protect the revolution.

But even if one could speak of a nascent protest movement in the country, the regime has virtually banned street protests, and in recent years spent huge resources to stifle political opposition.