Military coup in Egypt has potential for derailing the move towards democracy
After the Egyptian military had given President Morsi a 48-hour deadline to stand down, it was only a question of when another coup d’état was coming. Egypt’s powerful military was playing the game of wait and watch as the crowds gathered at Tahrir Square, the site of the revolution which ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, had lost popularity in a troubled and contested 12-month term. Over one million people were reported to have been celebrating the military coup as a “savior of the revolution” at Tahrir Square, the largest crowds there since February 2011. However, elsewhere in Egypt, clashes were reported in which up to 10 people died.
The military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s announcement on Thursday that he had ended Morsi’s presidency meant a number of protests were expected throughout Egypt on Thursday. Morsi appeared to have made an offer before the coup took place. On his Facebook page, Morsi said he was working on how to share power and hold parliamentary elections in the next few months. He appeared in a defiant late night address and met the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces chief al-Sisi earlier. While some have appeared to term the coup as a “second revolution,” one of the Morsi’s key adviser insisted that, “For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: military coup.”
The words are haunting. The fact is that this is no people’s revolution against President Morsi, who for all his problems was Egypt’s first elected president. The Egyptian constitution is now in abeyance and orders have been issued for the arrest of 300 Muslim Brotherhood members. The chief justice has been appointed the acting president, a technocratic government has been appointed with a committee set up to review the constitution. The welcome part is that the army chief has called for early elections, but the omens are not good. US President Barack Obama and British Foreign Secretary William Hague have come out to condemn the coup. Obama has also said that the $1.5 billion of aid to Egypt would be put to review. The fear is that the gains of the Egyptian revolution shall now be lost. The coup also points to the dangers posed by unresolved tensions between the government and opposition in countries where democracy has not sufficiently established. Ruling political parties cannot afford to steamroll the opposition even if it has a big mandate and must improve the economy and livelihood, nonetheless the opposition has played a bad role. Immediately, there is a need for announcing the election timeline. If not, Egypt could spiral into a civil war situation.