Ismail Sidky - Political Realism in the Face of the National Movement

Author: Safaa Shaker

Ismail Sidky Pasha embodied pragmatism in all its dimensions, with complete understanding and without concealment. Ismail Sidky was the very man who was among the four exiled to Malta by the British Protectorate authorities in March 1919, whose exile signaled the outbreak of the revolution. He was also the same man who sought refuge under the protection of the High Commissioner's residence during the era known by his name between 1930 and 1933. Ismail Sidky was the one who abolished the 1923 constitution, which was supported by nationalists, and replaced it with a constitution tailored to the monarchy, the 1930 constitution. When he fell victim to the extensive powers enjoyed by the monarch, which led to his personal overthrow, he turned against the monarchy and joined those demanding the revival of the first constitution, after having previously presented all arguments for its unsuitability to the conditions of the Egyptians. Throughout all this, he did not hesitate to use all tools of power or all unethical methods as long as it helped him achieve his goal.