Who is Mohamed Ali, the man calling for el-Sisi’s removal?

Self-exiled actor and business contractor has galvanised thousands to take part in rare protests against Egypt’s leader. “Mohamed Ali is probably the most popular man in Egypt right now,” Mohamad Elmasry, chair of the media and journalism programme at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera. “This is something that is a legitimate threat to the el-Sisi government – if it wasn’t a legitimate threat, then el-Sisi wouldn’t have come out and responded directly to Mohamed Ali at last week’s youth conference,” said Elmasry, adding it was “unprecedented” for el-Sisi “to be put on the defensive like that inside Egypt by an Egyptian”. ‘People looking for a spark’ Egypt outlawed all unauthorised demonstrations in 2013 after el-Sisi, as defence minister, led the military’s overthrow of democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi following mass demonstrations. Elmasry said that even though Egyptians have been aware of the corruption within the government apparatus, the fact that Ali “is an insider who worked with the military for about 15 years, that he has intricate details and also the fact that economy is spiralling out of control for the average Egyptian” appears to have struck a chord with many disenchanted people in the country.