No to privatization of the Suez Canal

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Following Sisi’s ceding of Tiran and Sanafir in support of his relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel to solidify his regime, he now directs his government to push a bill privatizing the Suez Canal through a parliament shaped by intelligence agencies, far removed from the Egyptian people and their active forces.

Just days after the regime struck a new, still-secret agreement with the International Monetary Fund, it persists in privatization policies to an unimaginable extent—even to the most pessimistic observers—reaching the Suez Canal, which was dug with the blood of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians, and where thousands of soldiers died defending it. This became apparent months ago with the issuance of the State Ownership Policy Document, which explicitly mentioned activities related to the Suez Canal (the Suez Canal Economic Zone, transit ships, and related activities).

The Egyptian public was surprised by the announcement of the House of Representatives’ approval of the government’s draft law amending Law No. 30 of 1975 regarding the Suez Canal Authority. This amendment aims to create a new special fund for the authority, funded by its revenues and surplus profits. It is considered private rather than public law, with explicit objectives of investment, establishing companies, acquiring—effectively selling—assets, and more.

The law confirms rumors of current understandings with some Gulf states for partnerships and acquisitions of some companies owned by the authority, posing a threat to sovereignty over the canal.
As usual, the government claims that establishing a special fund for the authority does not mean privatization and sale. However, the provisions of the proposed amendment are clear and explicit about privatization, with Article 15 bis (2) of the amendment enabling the fund to carry out all economic and investment activities, including establishing companies, investing in securities, buying and selling, leasing and renting the fund’s fixed and movable assets, and benefiting from them.
Nevertheless, the move to pass the canal privatization bill did not go as quietly as the dictator had hoped. Opposition to this law extended beyond opposition forces and the civil movement, which called for establishing a front to resist canal privatization and include significant elements within the regime.

In this context, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper quickly removed statements made to the newspaper by Vice Admiral Ihab Mamish, the President’s Advisor for Ports, asserting that “the law is impossible to implement and opens the door to an unprecedented situation where foreigners could manage the Suez Canal, changing the system that has been in place for years and generating record revenues and profits.”

However, the battle to overthrow this socially and nationally catastrophic law necessitates the creation of a front that clearly links its rejection of the law’s passage with resistance to privatization policies, price hikes, and starvation, in addition to addressing the workers of the Suez Canal companies and its employees whose living conditions will undoubtedly be affected.

Moreover, the civil movement itself must immediately review what is called Sisi’s national dialogue, as the regime that abandoned Tiran and Sanafir and is currently seeking to hand the canal back to foreign interests while continuing the same authoritarian and disastrous economic policies has sought nothing since the preparation for the dialogue began but to beautify its image in front of international institutions.

No Starvation and Price Hikes

No to the Privatization of the Suez Canal