Portraits of Egypt's leader fill iconic Cairo Square

Seven years ago, Cairo's Tahrir Square was filled with tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding change. Now it is plastered with portraits of the president, vowing continuity.

Almost all traces of the popular revolt that overthrew longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 are now gone. Instead there are banners and posters dozens of them showing a beaming Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the general-turned-president who's running for re-election this week in a vote widely dismissed as a farce.

"What happened in Tahrir was the biggest threat to the network of corruption and theft throughout Egypt's modern history," said Wael Eskandar, a blogger and activist who took part in the protests that brought down Mubarak.

"Tahrir symbolizes that threat and is a reminder that people can awaken and ask for their rights. That's why el-Sissi and his regime insist on appropriating it to erase a nation's memory."