The Brokerage Government Insists on Evicting Tenants… Let Us Show Our Anger

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister a few days ago, the government announced superficial amendments to the Old Rent Law. This announcement reflects the brutal neoliberal regime’s alignment with the philosophy of deregulating the relationship between landlords and tenants, openly disregarding the poor citizens’ right to housing.

This law is part of a package of legislation that aims to subject every aspect of life to the rules of supply and demand, with profit as the ultimate goal.
This approach has already manifested in disposing of farmers from their land, workers from their factories, and the privatization of public hospitals. Today, the time has come for a move that Mubarak’s regime had planned to implement: the eviction of tenants from old rent housing—had it not been for the outbreak of the January 2011 Revolution.

The government, which was forced to withdraw the initial draft of the proposed law in response to rising tenant anger, has now introduced limited amendments to its core proposal. These amendments are backed by statements from the head of the regime, who is determined to expel people experiencing poverty from prime areas, especially in Cairo and Alexandria.

In Toagment the tenant movement, Prime Minister Madbouly proposed a more extended transitional period before “full liberalization” in the case of residential leases while insisting that non-residential old rent contracts be terminated within five years.
Madbouly also proposed that rent increases during the transitional period vary according to neighborhood, meaning that increases in poorer areas would be lower than those in wealthier ones. These details will be outlined in the law’s executive regulations.

But apart from these amendments, the goal and essence of the draft law remain unchanged: the government and the beneficiaries of this law still seek a “complete liberalization” of the landlord-tenant relationship, determined solely by supply and demand, in a distorted housing market.
All of this happens while millions of citizens search for suitable housing at prices that match their income levels yet cannot find it—despite millions of vacant apartments resulting from government policies that ignore the needs of low-income people.

The government argues it must end the law per the Constitutional Court ruling issued in November 2024. However, that ruling does not require terminating rent contracts; it only declares the unconstitutionality of fixing rental values—something even tenant associations do not object to.
It is also important to point out that many old rent units are small shops occupied by craftsmen and grocers who barely make ends meet and support large families. Ending these leases without studying the consequences could lead to a sharp rise in already high unemployment and push millions more Egyptians into poverty.
The Revolutionary Socialists view the issue of evicting poor tenants from their homes as a political matter that clearly reveals the class bias of the current regime.

This regime, which is aggressively pushing to displace millions of tenants, is the same one whose policies have led 66% of Egyptians to live below the international poverty line—on less than $6.85 per day—according to a 2025 World Bank report. The same regime also looks the other way as capitalists ignore the decision to raise the minimum wage to 7,000 EGP, a measure intended to ease the burden of the economic crisis and high inflation on citizens.

Political forces, unions, and human rights organizations are calling for an urgent and expanded meeting to unify efforts to confront this unjust law—now and without delay.
The movement urges all tenants to continue organizing themselves into associations across provinces and neighborhoods and to apply all forms of pressure on this pro-capital government. The law will not be stopped through televised debates or court rulings alone—it must also be met with the visible anger of tenants through organized conferences, sit-ins, and demonstrations until their voices reach Parliament and decision-makers.

The heroic resistance of Warraq residents against eviction from their homes and lands, ongoing for the past eight years, along with the recent mass protests in Aswan against drug dealers, offer us inspiration and guidance on how to win back our rights.

Finally, we call on tenants to rally around the following demands:
1. Total rejection of the proposed law.
2. Rejection of terminating contracts after a transitional period and insistence on extending contracts for one generation, as stipulated in Constitutional Court rulings from 2002 and 2011.
3. Rejection of unfair rent increases not based on income levels, limiting speculation and the exploitation of economic conditions, or increased demand for housing due to regional wars (such as the influx of refugees)—a practice followed in most capitalist countries.
4. Comprehensive old and new rental system reform based on the principle of housing as a right for all.
5. Passage of legislation to incentivize owners of vacant units—estimated at 12 million, according to official statistics—to rent them out to help restore balance to the housing market.
Homes belong to those living in them… not the Old Rent Law.