Consensus-building in Al-Sisi's Egypt

The government of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi rests on three pillars: a socio-identificatory glue that is "nationalised Islam"; an "employment agency" as an integral part of the state structure, represented by the Armed Forces and its role as a job provider; and an "apparatus", that is, the extensive bureaucracy which has long represented a key feature of the Egyptian Republic's Nasserist legacy. Al-Sisi's presidency needs the loyalty of the apparatus, which covers the white-collar bureaucracy with its 6 million employees and that of the State security bodies, for which the regime has ensured substantial impunity regarding the victims of the 2011 revolution through pressure on the judiciary. This paper looks at the significance of these three pillars while examining the means by which Al-Sisi is seeking to consolidate his regime and avoid the re-emergence of protests.