The Ousting of a President: How did Egypt get to this point?

Diary of the events taking place in Egypt.

July 3, 2013 

Morsi Ousted Amidst Jubilation and Anxiety: Will the Military be the Final Player?

Fireworks and celebrations flooded Tahrir square and Ittahdya palace after the speech announcing that President Morsi has been ousted by the military. After giving a time frame of 48-hours for President Morsi to work towards solving the crisis, General Sisi declared that after meeting with all political powers who represent the population, the decision to oust Morsi and call for early elections had been reached. A time frame for elections was not specified. Sisi also added that the current constitution would be suspended.

Egyptians are divided between viewing this as a military coup or as a revolution facilitated and protected by the armed forces. Regardless, for Tamarod (the main opposition group) and other groups that demanded a suspension of President Morsi from his duties, the main goal is to remove the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) from power in Egypt. They believe that the military will not try to gain power, and they are confident that should that arise, they will be able to go back to the streets.

For Morsi’s supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, what happened today is, without a doubt, a coup in an attempt to slowly restore the heydays of the old regime. As if bent on playing on the Islamist forces’ greatest fears of prosecution, all seventeen channels affiliated with Islamist views have been cut off. Threats of imminent attacks were issued for the pro-president protesters in Rab’aa Adaweya, Nasr city. The Muslim Brotherhood fears attacks against them with no media coverage for their cause, although some online news sites like Rasd Network continued to issue updates about the situation.

Protestors in Raba’a Adaweya were caught off-guard when armed thugs climbed to the roofs of surrounding buildings and started firing, leading to the death of three protesters as of now. There reportedly has been no army or police presence.

With this dramatic turn of events, it seems that Cairo might be headed towards a road of strict military control. The Islamist forces are determined to not leave without a fight, especially if leaving means handing Egypt over to become a military dictatorship once again. With this knowledge, the military could be preparing to hoard all the members of the Muslim Brotherhood and cut all arms of the opposition straight away. Or Egypt could be continuing with the revolution, as hopeful protesters from Tamarod claim. Yet the question of how legitimacy of the democratic system could be restored after the Egyptian president has been forced out remains an integral factor for the future of politics in Egypt. Even if the military decides to be confined to the role of a short-term facilitator in Egyptian politics, the foundations of the democratic system have been violently shaken before it had even planted its infant roots.

Revolutions thrive on unpredictability and struggle. The democratic rules of the political game are inferior to the hopes of the people. However, who can determine whether this was a powerful collective decision of the people to move again in the direction of the revolution after a halt that lasted one year under Morsi’s rule? Who can tell whether their anger was utilized as a tool by sides like the military and the old regime lurching in the shadows of the people’s will and hoping to silence them in the nearest opportunity?

The answers will shape history, if there are any, that is.

July 2, 2013

16 Murdered as Violent Protests and Uncertainty Shake Egypt

16 have been declared dead in a horrific turn in the demonstrations in Egypt. The pro-president protests, in order to gather support for their cause, marched in the streets of Cairo University. Suddenly, the peaceful protesters were attacked by an unknown group of armed men, who fired directly at them. There is no exact knowledge of who those were; however, the Muslim Brotherhood believes it could be an affiliated force within or sent by the police forces.

Even before the arrival of the June 30 date that Tamarod declared, the members of the Muslim brotherhood and any group mistakenly linked to Islamism has been targeted arbitrarily by angry citizens who would direct their misgivings about the failings of the country to those they could lay their hands on. Amidst queues for gas that lasted for 12 hours, and long electricity power cutting, the Egyptian population became pushed beyond its limit. Perhaps in an attempt to simplify the problem, the Muslim Brotherhood, the majority party in power, became painted as the sole reason for the bad conditions in Egypt. The Liberty and Freedom Party and President Morsi specifically cited the effects of a media that was not only biased but purposefully bent on attacking and vilifying the members of the Party.

Specific members have been not only threatened but also attacked by either thugs or, in the case of Khairat Al Shater, police forces. Live witnesses in Nasr city, Cairo heard gunshots and saw police forces around the House of Khairat Al Shater, a leading figure in the brotherhood who was initially the candidate for Presidency. His daughter, Khadiga El Shater recounts that police forces randomly shot at the house and that children narrowly escaped injury. Many accounts have similarly reached other members of Ikhwan (MB).

Today’s violence leaves the country in a bewildered and confused state. There is a lot of speculation on whether the violence today was a result of Morsi’s speech. Morsi stressed his legitimacy as a democratically elected president and declared that he would guard the freedom of the Egyptian people on the road of legitimate democracy with his life. He also reminded the opposition forces that he was open for negotiations that would allow for constitutional amendments and a new government formation, but not anything that undermined legitimacy. For most people, the speech was lacking and a mere re-affirmation of previous statements.

As of this moment, there is a lot of tension in anticipation of yet another attack on the Muslim Brotherhood members in Rabaa Al Addweya, the street that most of the pro-president forces have been demonstrating on since days before June 30. The threats of attack continue without any interference from police or security forces.

July 1, 2013

Army Issues 48-hour Ultimatum for Morsi and Government to Act

Everyone is holding their breath. On the first of July, and only one day after the raging protests hosted by Tamarod, a political movement aiming the ousting of democratically elected president Morsi, the army has issued a 48-hour time frame for the president and the current government to act, before the SCAF takes matters in its own hands.

It has been a year since Morsi narrowly won against Shafik, a member of Mubarak’s old regime. However, the performance of Morsi and his government did not satisfy the revolutionary and opposition forces, who felt increasingly pushed outside the political realm.

The people in Tahrir, Ittahdya are against a political regime that grows more distant and unaware, if not condescending. To the liberal opposition and even to unaffiliated members of the population, it seemed that the close ties between the Muslim Brotherhood as a political force, and as an Islamist organization complicate the power dynamic.

It would be simpler to regard this matter in ideological terms and view it as a struggle for a vision of government or even secularism, but the reality is not as clear-cut. The Egypt after the revolution remained the same: a country ever struggling for economic survival, a country filled with crime and corruption. The police force, the main tool of Mubarak’s regime for keeping the people in place, claimed to be devastated after the January 25th revolution, leaving a population of more than 80 million with a police force that vowed to operate with arbitrary, sometimes malicious and mostly indifferent coldness. The Ikhwan ( MB) argue that all state powers worked against and not with them, making it impossible for them to achieve any progress. Starting from the opposition, who the Ikhwan allege has not been left out but has persistently refused to work with the existing president, to the police forces, to the folol, old members of the regime that have a stake and connection with the bureaucracy and institutionalized thugs. There is no way to determine to what extent these factors really hindered the progression of the state away from its old status.

Regardless, the people realize that it has been the responsibility of the government to live up to the simple expectations of security and justice. Instead, Egyptians found themselves surrounded by situations even worse than pre-25 January. What had before been a random and dispersed body of criminals and thugs gained a dynamic and threatening presence in all of Cairo’s streets; as rape, kidnappings and robberies became common happenings.

Car robberies, mall and shop raids in broad daylight, and sometimes even under the eyes of the police forces, gas shortages, electricity shortages, being on the brink of an economic crisis, and the lack of what Egyptians felt they needed best – stability.

Yet the question is now not whether the president and his government deserve all this dissent, but whether this road will bring Egyptians back in the arms of the military that has planted its dictators for decades. Is the road to change ultimately leading to the stability Egyptians crave at the costly price of death to the revolution?

Even if the people can miraculously escape the military, the question of democratic legitimacy raises doubts about the future of the democratic system in Egypt. There is no easy way out. The cards are all on the table, and the whole world awaits.

June 30, 2013

Revolution 2.0, Egyptians Back on the Streets

Huge protests shake the streets of Cairo.

Tahrir square, once echoing the chants that compelled Mubarak to step down is again alive, alongside both new and old faces. Again we see “ Irhal means go!” This time aimed at Egypt’s first democratically elected president Morsi, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The same atmosphere of festivity, of hope and revolutionary zeal is present – with a twist. This time Egyptian’s can claim to be experts in the arts of revolution. Millions are huddled not only in Tahrir square but also in front of Ittahedya, the presidential palace. Some time ago a movement with the name of Tamarod (meaning the rebels or the rebellion) launched a campaign rallying all political and civil forces who were dissatisfied with the current regime to the streets. All the doubts about the real power of Tamarod are now dispelled.

How did Egypt get to this point?

How did we get from a successful peaceful revolution on the 25th of January that shook a vicious regime to a country questioning, and perhaps experiencing the need of a new revolution all together?

The story is well known: a united force does the impossible in the face of a common enemy but then begins to disintegrate with the false hopes of individual gains, never realizing that the individual, in a country, is a the whole country.  There is no politically correct way for stating that the current government failed.  Exactly one year ago, when Morsi won against the old general Shafik, (who was appointed by Mubarak to head the government during the 2011 revolution), a sense of anxious speculation mixed with hope filled Cairo. Egyptians had a clear set of goals: a promotion of safety, equality, stability, opportunity and freedom. They had lost hundreds of martyrs for change, and would not accept any less than a new Egypt all together.

Yet, initially, it seemed that Morsi and his government were trotting slowly, keeping the Egyptian military forces in power when they should have been banished from political life altogether. Old members of the Democratic Party flourished, change seemed far-fetched. Members of other political parties, the youth that led the 25th of January, were no longer politically present.

However, what raged like a hurricane was a series of chaos: electricity shortages, a dramatic safety problem, and gas shortages. Raids, murders, kidnappings, and rapes in daylight. What people desperately needed – merely a sense of security, basic life provisions – they could no longer have. The president grew to be a distant and unaware figure as days went by.

Yet the question is now not whether the president and his government deserve all this dissent, but whether this road will bring Egyptians back in the arms of the military that has planted its dictators for decades. Is the road to change ultimately leading to the stability Egyptians crave at the costly price of death to the revolution?

Even if the people can miraculously escape the military, the question of democratic legitimacy raises doubts about the future of the democratic system in Egypt. There is no easy way out. The cards are all on the table, and the whole world awaits.

 

 

Photo credit: Picture taken via mobile by Alaa Abdellatif. Protestors in Rab’aa Adaweyya raise their shoes in response to a hovering military airplane to show the military they reject their ultimatum and that they are not willing to give up without a fight.