Freedom for Counselor Ayman Essam: The Government of Tycoons Besieges Tenants to Force Through the Eviction Law

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

In recent days, there has been a serious escalation in the attack on the tenants’ movement opposing the so-called “Old Rent Law Amendment,” which, in essence, aims to forcibly evict tenants. Counselor Ayman Essam, one of the most prominent supporters of tenants, was arrested to prevent him from attending a solidarity conference at the headquarters of the Popular Alliance Party in Alexandria on Friday. His whereabouts remain unknown to this moment.

Although security forces surrounded the Popular Alliance Party headquarters in Moharram Bek with a significant presence, a group of tenants managed to break through the siege and reaffirmed their determination to continue their movement to repeal the draft eviction law. They also announced their intention to establish grassroots associations in various neighborhoods to organize their efforts in the coming period.

On the same day, security forces also besieged Al-Azhar Mosque in an attempt to suppress a protest that had been announced by tenants in the area.

In contrast, we have not seen any security interventions to obstruct similar conferences held by property owners — a clear indication of the state’s blatant bias toward real estate capital and its crackdown on any peaceful popular resistance defending the right to housing.

We affirm that what is happening is not an exception but part of a comprehensive government campaign to pass a law aimed at evicting millions of tenants and “liberalizing” the landlord-tenant relationship based on market logic, disregarding the housing rights of millions of Egyptians and relying on policies of impoverishment, privatization, and alignment with the wealthy elite.
We reiterate our clear and non-negotiable demands:

1. Complete rejection of the draft law and refusal to recognize any “amended” versions that maintain the core concept of eviction.
2. Rejection of ending rental contracts after transitional periods and insistence on their extension for one generation, as stipulated by the Constitutional Court rulings of 2002 and 2011.
3. Rejection of unjustified rent increases and a demand to link rent to income levels, as practiced in most capitalist countries.
4. Recognition of the right to housing for all through a comprehensive reform of both the old and new rent systems.
5. Issuance of a law that obliges owners of vacant housing units to lease them to balance the real estate market and contain the crisis.
6. Immediate release of Counselor Ayman Essam.
We urge all associations, unions, and civil society organizations to intensify their efforts and unite their ranks to challenge this unjust law. Housing rights are not granted—they are seized through popular struggle, not behind closed doors.
Apartments for those who live in them — No to the Eviction Law!
Freedom for Counselor Ayman Essam!