Governments sometimes use media to measure public opinion. Media used to be seen as the mirror of opinion and common sense. Officials can follow views expressed in newspaper articles, TV talk shows, blogs, tweets and Facebook comments since they are fairly good indicators of public opinion. Officials can also use some of these means to test the reaction of the public.
In Egypt, the government used the media to test public opinion when it decided to renew its commitment to privatization in 2004, which negatively affected the majority of the Egyptian people.
Mubarak’s government frequently let the news outlets speak about a forthcoming deal that would sell a State-owned bank to a foreign investor, then the government would wait to see what the reaction would be. If it was aggressive, an official from the Egyptian presidency would appear on TV denying this information and blame the paper that released it. This is what happened with Banque du Caire. If not much hassle occurred, the government would pursue the deal. That was the scenario with the Bank of Alexandria.
On one occasion, Mubarak did not play it right. When he was paving the way for his son, Gamal Mubarak, to succeed him in the presidency, he did not care much about measuring the public opinion. People were angry; life was hard; and the vast majority of the Egyptians were fed up with Mubarak and his three-decade rule. Mubarak ended up deposed and in jail.
Now, Egyptian Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is planning to run for president in April’s elections, but he himself has not announced it yet. Many people are not comfortable with the idea of a military man ruling Egypt after two massive revolutions, and after Egypt suffered so much from Mubarak, who was also a military man.
In an attempt to warm the people up and measure the public opinion, El-Sisi used the media, which are like puppets in his hands, to take his pictures in a “civilian” appearance for the first time while leaving for Russia last week. The message was: “Accept it. Get used to the civilian El-Sisi.”
This high-level visit for Russia is very important and strategic, especially after the White House suspended $250 million in cash transfers to Egypt as well as the delivery of tanks, attack helicopters and warplanes, among other weapons.
This visit is meant to come with the biggest military deal between Egypt and Russia since the 1970s. News reports in both countries estimate that the arms agreement is of about $2 billion. El-Sisi, therefore, is sending another message: “If Uncle Sam is not willing to support, the Russian Bear always is.”
More importantly, during the visit, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced his support for El-Sisi’s presidential bid, saying, “I wish you luck, both from myself and from the Russian people.”
Songs urging El-Sisi to run for president, the statement by Putin as well as by many public figures in Egypt wishing him luck, the endorsement of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, a civilian appearance, and the famous statement by El-Sisi to the Egyptian people: “You are the light of my eyes,” — all these come together to measure the public opinion and warm it up for El-Sisi as a president of 2014.
A tiny touch of prestige to garnish the whole thing: In January, El-Sisi arranged matters with Interim President Adly Mansour and SCAF to promote him so that he can run for president as a prestigious Field Marshal after he was just a general.