Satirist Bassem Youssef had a golden opportunity to make Egyptians laugh during the dictatorial rule of former president Mohamed Morsi.
Yet the pro-military media and the secular elite that have dominated Egypt since the overthrow of Mr Morsi have also proven to be perfect targets for the new season of Youssef’s television programme, El Bernameg.
Youssef wrote in a recent newspaper article that, from a satirist’s point of view, there is not much difference between the new order and the Islamists he used to criticise.
But the political landscape has changed, and opposition voices have all but disappeared from the Egyptian media. When Youssef tried to return to the airwaves at the end of last year, the CBC network cancelled El Bernameg after just one episode because of his criticism of Field Marshal Abdul Fattah El Sisi, the defence minister and a likely candidate for the presidency.
On his new television programme last week, Youssef went soft on Mr El Sisi but mocked the army’s claim that it had invented a machine that could cure HIV and Hepatitis C.
Youssef – who was famously the subject of a court case for insulting Mr Morsi last year – is facing new problems, with many government supporters filing complaints against him.
He has also raised the ire of pro-government media.
What makes Youssef popular with many Egyptians, aside from his sense of humour, is his unwavering position in satirising religious and military projects. What has helped him to retain his independence is that he was an accomplished surgeon before he entered the media arena, and that he began his career in an outlet outside of the control of the former regime.
The course of Youssef’s programme – which became a huge hit on YouTube during the dying days of the presidency of Hosni Mubarak – reflects the stages and transitions of the Egyptian revolution. In the beginning he targeted celebrities who were supporting Mr Mubarak.
He then targeted the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) and the Islamists who had allied with the military. After Mr Morsi reached power, Youssef focused on the Islamists and El Bernameg reached its peak, to the point where it has been cited as a factor in revealing the failure of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Youssef was seen to be aligning himself with the civil opposition that had appealed to the military to “rescue the country” from the religious state – despite the fact that many of them had actually voted for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mr Morsi, in the presidential election to defeat a candidate they believed to be a remnant of the Mubarak regime.
Now, Youssef has returned to criticising the military administration, along with all the political factions and the secular pro-military elite.
This reflects the reality of a kind of “musical chairs” game in the political arena.
Even so, Egyptians who are sceptical of both the military and the Islamists no longer have a stage to express their opinions. Youssef could not find any Egyptian-owned television channel bold enough to present his criticisms of the new leadership, so he had to go to the MBC network, which is owned by the Saudi businessman Waleed Al Ibrahim.
Although the first few episodes have concentrated on Mr El Sisi and the military, Youssef has not criticised them directly, as he used to do with Mr Morsi.
Instead, he has focused on what he sees as hypocrisy in the Egyptian media towards Mr El Sisi’s political ambitions.
Despite this limitation, the return of El Bernameg has created a contrast to the programming offered by pro-military media. It gives a voice to those who have reservations both about the Islamists and the military.
Given the good relationship between Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian military, Youssef’s tenure at MBC is not guaranteed – especially if he decides to abandon the tone of compromise he has adopted.
On the other hand, if he does not return to his former forthright style, he risks reducing his credibility with his large fan base.
Magdy Samaan is a Cairo-based journalist
