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Egypt Sadat Takes Over, 1970-73
When Nasser died, it became apparent that his successor,
Anwar as Sadat, did not intend to be another Nasser. As Sadat's
rule progressed, it became clear that his priority was solving
Egypt's pressing economic problems by encouraging Western
financial investment. Sadat realized, however, that Western
investment would not be forthcoming until there was peace between
Egypt and Israel, Soviet influence was eliminated, and the
climate became more favorable to Western capitalism.
Sadat was a Free Officer who had served as secretary of the
Islamic Congress and of the National Union and as speaker of the
National Assembly. In 1969 he was appointed vice president and so
became acting president on Nasser's death. On October 3, 1970,
the ASU recommended that Sadat be nominated to succeed Nasser as
president. An election was held on October 15, and Sadat won more
than 90 percent of the vote. Almost no one expected that Sadat
would be able to hold power for long. Sadat was considered a
rather weak and colorless figure who would last only as long as
it would take for the political maneuvering to result in the
emergence of Nasser's true successor. Sadat surprised everyone
with a series of astute political moves by which he was able to
retain the presidency and emerge as a leader in his own right.
Sadat moved very cautiously at first and pledged to continue
Nasser's policies. On May 2, 1971, however, Sadat dismissed Ali
Sabri, the vice president and head of the ASU. On May 15, Sadat
announced that Sabri and more than 100 others had been arrested
and charged with plotting a coup against the government. Also
charged in the plot were Sharawy Jumaa, minister of interior and
head of internal security, and Muhammad Fawzi, minister of war.
These men were considered to be left-leaning and pro-Soviet. They
were arrested with other important figures of the Nasser era.
They had all resigned their positions on May 13, apparently in
preparation for a takeover. But anticipating their moves, Sadat
outflanked them and was then able to assert himself and appoint
his own followers, rather than Free Officer colleagues, to
leadership positions.
This action, which became known as the Corrective Revolution,
began Sadat's move away from Nasser's policies. He announced new
elections and a complete reorganization of the ASU. The armed
forces pledged their support for Sadat on May 15. There were also
some popular demonstrations in the streets in support of Sadat's
moves.
Sadat signed the first Soviet-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship
and Cooperation on May 27, 1971. He later explained that he did
it to allay Soviet fears provoked by his ouster of Ali Sabri and
the others and to speed up deliveries of Soviet military
supplies. Even as he was preparing to break the stalemate with
Israel, however, he was already thinking of expelling the Soviet
advisers.
Data as of December 1990
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