Egypt, which should have been pacified months ago, is still in a state of ferment. HA Hellyer, the Cairo-based analyst for the Royal United Services Institute, who is sharply critical of President Mohamed Morsis failures in office, describes events since the coup in July as the most violent state-led crackdown against Egyptians in Egyptian modern history. Egypts debt problems (when Morsi was ousted the foreign and domestic debt was equivalent to 89% of Egypts GDP) are not going to be helped by Saudi-isation – the attempt to lower the unemployment rate at home by reducing the number of foreign workers, some 9 million people. Hundreds of thousands of workers have already left the kingdom as the Saudi authorities launched a visa crackdown on undocumented workers. Three Ethiopian workers were killed in clashes in Riyadh. But at least 700,000 Egyptian nationals – thats over a quarter of the 2.5 million Egyptian foreign workers – also face deportation. They provide much-needed income for the stagnant Egyptian economy, and were one reason why Morsi kept quiet about the Gulf states role in destabilising his period in office. The article continued: It would be a mistake to defy the power of history with the illusion that the powerful can forge deals and plan the future away from the peoples whose divisions and lack of experience with democracy enabled local, regional and international forces to abuse them. Yet, these peoples continue to be in a state of liquidity and rage. They know what they want but they are confused about how to achieve it. What is certain is that they will not wait for a knight mounted on a white horse to lead them toward a new shining dawn. The one-man era is over. theguardian/commentisfree/2013/nov/21/saudi-power-struggles-egypt
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:30:38 +0000
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