Egypt Snapshot: A Leadership Vacuum in Suez (Allam)

Hannah Allam writes for McClatchy News Service:

More than two months have passed since the upheaval that forced Egypt's president to resign, yet this bustling seaport — home of the Suez Canal — still has no working police force and a military presence so overstretched that commanders rely on community elders to disarm gunmen and on neighborhood patrols to combat the soaring crime rate.

Suez's seething population of 550,000 so hated Hosni Mubarak that the deposed president never once visited in his three-decade rule, locals assert with pride. In return, they say, the regime steered revenues from the canal, oil refineries and industrial zones to other provinces.

Suez residents, among the first to take to the streets, hoped that the overthrow of the regime would bring about a political and economic renaissance for their long-suffering city. Instead, a persistent lawlessness has settled in here that exposes the limitations of Egypt's interim military rulers and is a reminder that revolutions that so quickly sweep away authority can leave vacuums that are difficult to fill.

"There is absolutely no one to run the city. Even in this transitional period, we don't see any administrators, any government workers; the governor isn't here, no secretaries of the governorate, nothing," said Hani Haddad, 32, an unemployed accountant. "The consequences are showing up: drugs all over the street, thuggery, robberies, no traffic control, rising food prices. The only positive thing I see is that people are now free to talk." 

Suez, one of Egypt's largest cities, is emblematic of what's taken place in much of the country. The once-venerated military, which is losing popularity amid allegations of abuse and bogus detentions, maintains only a bare minimum of security as overextended officers take on the roles of policeman and politician. Increasingly, the military relies on community elders and citizen patrols to keep order, reverting to village-style justice in urban centers.

Political observers say Suez shows why the military must move quickly to turn over the Arab world's most populous nation to civilian rule. Most of the local complaints — a skeleton police force, lack of government, unemployment and rising crime rates — are mirrored in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and other major hubs. Without stable local councils to share in the responsibility of governing, the military faces a Herculean task in securing the country. What will happen between now and elections scheduled for the fall is a worry.

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