THE freshly minted presidency of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has got off to an embarrassing start. The turnout for the poll on May 26th-27th that was supposed to provide civilian camouflage for a military dictatorship was lower even than expected—so low, indeed, that polling stations were kept open for a third day in the hope that more Egyptians could be enticed into them. The election has thus failed to provide the former general with the stamp of legitimacy that he was hoping for.

Mr Sisi’s true popularity is hard to measure. Most Egyptians, exhausted by three-and-a-half years of turbulence since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown after 30 years of stultifyingly repressive rule, still probably wish him well. But a strongman’s allure can fade fast. And unless he changes direction, Egypt could slide back to where it was in 2011, with a populace just as angrily frustrated and as ready to oppose a dictator, should they come to see him as malevolent.

Goose-stepping down the wrong road

Mr Sisi must loosen up both politics and the economy. So far he has shown scant readiness to do either. He has been viciously intolerant of dissent expressed not just by those suspected of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood of the former president, Muhammad Morsi, but also by the secular-minded young liberals who were the first to stir up the revolt against Mr Mubarak three years ago. At least 16,000 people—some say more than twice as many—have been put behind bars since Mr Morsi was overthrown, and at least a thousand killed. The courts have sentenced hundreds of protesters to death, though the sentences are unlikely to be carried out.

Most of Egypt’s media have become cravenly sycophantic and xenophobic, and independent voices have been muzzled. There is at present no parliament to check the powers of the president. Mr Sisi should call an early general election, seek to include non-violent Islamists in politics and allow a freer debate. If he does not, the opposition is likely to go underground. Parts of it are already resorting to terrorism.

Mr Sisi’s plans for the economy, which has gone from bad to nearly catastrophic since the fall of Mr Mubarak, are equally worrying. Unless Egyptians are given a chance to prosper, there is likely to be another popular explosion. But Mr Sisi sounds hostile to market economics. He has praised the kind of military-led state intervention that proved wasteful in the past, promising the familiar grandiose schemes in the desert rather than bold, simple moves to fix the problems of the 90% of Egyptians still squeezed into the Nile Valley.

Mr Sisi should embark swiftly on a targeted reduction of fuel and food subsidies that gobble up a quarter of the budget, cut the country’s bloated, 7m-strong civil service, and sell an array of decrepit state behemoths—not, as Mr Mubarak did, to his cronies but in an open auction, allowing Egypt to benefit from an injection of foreign capital and technology. The country is being kept afloat by the Gulf monarchies, from which it has received around $20 billion since Mr Sisi stepped in. That is not sustainable. With 85m people, Egypt is the biggest country in the Arab world. The generals may help get the trains to run on time, but that is not enough. Egypt needs foreign investment, a decent legal system and an open society.

Perhaps Mr Sisi, now more firmly ensconced in power, will surprise his doubters with a surge of common sense and courage on all these fronts. But the early omens are grim.