Protests Against Bread Decisions: A Step Toward Resisting Plundering and Impoverishment Policies

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Millions of Egyptians are suffering greatly to meet their basic needs, especially since the recent wave of inflation that began last November. Even before that, they were already facing a massive rise in the prices of goods and services, the collapse of the Egyptian pound’s purchasing power, and inflation reaching 30%. These are just some direct results of the government adopting plundering policies tied to the IMF loan.

At the same time, the state pampers business elites with grants and exemptions from taxes and customs duties, all under the guise of encouraging investment, while spending billions on contracts with public relations firms to beautify the regime’s image abroad. Following price hikes in medicine, electricity, fuel, and other essentials, the latest decisions by Ali Moselhy, the Minister of Supply, represent yet another step toward eliminating subsidies—targeting bread subsidies. Moselhy’s name has long been associated with bread crises, cooking gas cylinders, and plans to abolish subsidies. He is one of Mubarak’s worst ministers, shamelessly returning to the current government.

This latest decision, which affects Egyptians’ daily bread, is one that the Sisi regime would not have dared to take without relying on its security apparatus, which constantly cracks down on every opponent and silences anyone who raises their voice to demand their right to live with dignity. The regime also counts on the efforts of counter-revolutionary forces—led by the oppressive and authoritarian apparatuses—to instill fear among Egyptians. However, the hundreds and thousands who rose today in Imbaba and various neighborhoods in Alexandria, Kafr El-Sheikh, and Minya in protest against the Ministry of Supply’s decisions—particularly the cancellation of paper ration cards—are setting an example in defying this regime. It is a regime that steals its daily bread to line its own pockets and those of prominent business people while unleashing its repressive apparatus to muzzle any voices raised against its deepening impoverishment policies, thinking it will face no resistance.

The voices you have long tried to silence cannot remain quiet forever. Today, they are echoing the core slogan of the revolution: “Bread, Freedom, Social Justice.” These protests are just a glimpse of the growing public anger that has been accumulating as a result of the policies of oppression, repression, impoverishment, and authoritarianism.

Resisting these policies will not be easy, but it is possible. It starts with organizing and uniting the protests.
Bread… Freedom… Social Justice