EgyptEgypt military chief says country is on verge of “state collapse”

General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s armed forces chief, has warned the other day that the current political crisis in Egypt “could lead to a collapse of the state.” General al-Sisi said such a collapse could “threaten future generations.”

General Sisi suggested that the polarization of the civilian politics was becoming a concern of the military because “to affect the stability of the state institutions is a dangerous matter that harms Egyptian national security.”

The general’s comments came in the wake of heavy military deployment in three cities along the Suez Canal following a declaration of a state of emergency by President Morsi.

The BBC reports that Gen Sisi’s lengthy statement appears to be a veiled threat to protesters and opposition forces as well as an appeal for calm and an attempt to reassure Egyptians about the role of the military.

“The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state and threaten future generations,” Gen Sisi, who is also Egypt’s defence minister, said.

He said the economic, political, and social challenges facing Egypt represented “a real threat to the security of Egypt and the cohesiveness of the Egyptian state.”

The general noted that the main aim of the military deployment along the Suez Canal was to protect the key shipping route, one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign revenue, and described the army as “a pillar of the state’s foundations.”

Gen Sisi was appointed by Morsi after the armed forces handed over power to him following his election in June.

The latest round of violence in Egypt was sparked by death sentences handed down by a Port Said court on twenty-one local football fans involved in riots last year in which seventy-four people died.

The demonstrations in Port Said against the court’s decision soon engulfed all of Egypt’s major cities, with the focus being growing dissatisfaction with the regime’s meager achievements, authoritarian tendencies, and Islamist leanings.

The BBC notes that Morsi, Egypt’s first freely-elected president, promised to form a government “for all Egyptians,” but liberal and secular opposition groups accused him of being autocratic and driving through a new , Islamist-inspired constitution that does not adequately protect freedom of expression or religion.

Michael Hanna, a researcher at the Century Foundation, told the New York Times that after two years of torturous transition, Egyptians have watched with growing anxiety as the erosion of the public trust in the government and a persistent security vacuum have fostered a new temptation to resort to violence to resolve disputes. “There is a clear political crisis that has eroded the moral authority of the state,” he said.