Punch Egypt’s democratic travails JULY 12, 2013 BY PUNCH EDITORIAL BOARD RECENT events leading to the ouster of Mohammed Morsi as the president of Egypt have sufficiently demonstrated the well-known belief that for a democratic government to be meaningful, it should always be sensitive to the wider interests of the people, who are the essential vehicle for its success. But under no circumstances should people be allowed to get away with the belief that a coup is a credible alternative to the ballot box in changing an elected government that has failed the people. Unfortunately, this message of the centrality of the electorate in a democracy was lost on Morsi while he held sway as the first democratically-elected president of Africa’s second most populous country, perhaps because there was never any democratic experience in Egypt to draw from. By the time he got a whiff of it, it was already too late. Therefore, just as he was swept into power following a popular uprising by the people, it also took a mass action by disgruntled and disaffected citizens to throw Morsi out of office. Similarly, just as the military rode on the back of 18 days of popular protests to topple Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-old government, to pave the way for the emergence of Morsi, so also did the Egyptian Army lend a helping hand to millions of protesting crowds to get rid of their president. Regrettably, Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, came to power fired by religious fervour and nothing more, forgetting that, in a modern society, piety cannot go far unless it is accompanied by a meaningful economic and social agenda to transform the lives of the citizens positively. Rather than integrate the diverse interest groups with different religious, political and social affiliations in order to mould a cohesive society, he was busy playing the politics of alienation and discrimination. The secularists who actually led the revolution that ousted Mubarak and enthroned him were excluded from government as Morsi gave all the important positions to members of the Brotherhood. While allowing himself to be sucked deeper into the politics of religion, he seemed to turn a blind eye whenever radical Islamic groups attacked Coptic Christians, who form 10 per cent of Egypt’s 84 million population, as well as the Shia Muslims. For a country with a high level of educated people, which has for long been secular and pluralistic, it was going to be difficult to get away with such bungling incompetence. Rather than build institutions, he undermined them just to ensure that he wielded absolute and unchallengeable power. The first sign of trouble for Morsi came late last year when he attempted to smuggle a clause into a draft constitution to grant him sweeping and unrestricted powers. The plan was quickly abandoned following sustained pressure mounted by the people through days of street protests. The clause would also have conferred on him immunity over judicial oversights. His decision to back out and flee the Presidential Palace, however, did not stop the Egyptians from pressing ahead with more demands, asking for more secularity in governance, as against the bid to subject their freedoms, through an uncalled-for constitutional amendment, to the authority of the strict Islamic law, the Sharia. Even though the economy was chief among the reasons for the rise against Mubarak, Morsi had absolutely no idea of how to reverse the free fall – nor did he appreciate the necessity to do so at all – until things got worse with time. Not only did the value of the Egyptian pound dip, unemployment among the youth soared above the 40 per cent mark. Long queues became common at fuel stations due to scarcity of the product. In a report, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation said, “Since the 2011 revolution, the Egyptian economy has gone from bad to worse. Unemployment is up, so is the budget deficit; job creation is virtually non-existent and the Egyptian pound has lost most of its value. And matters are made worse by the general lack of security in the country.” The Reuters news agency, quoting one of Morsi’s ex-ministers, said on Thursday that the country’s wheat supply would last less than two months, deepening the fears about the economy that is finding it hard to import food and fuel. Undoubtedly, these were some of the reasons why the Egyptians, fast developing a reputation for confronting dictatorship and fighting bad government, took to the streets to demand the exit of Morsi. Regrettably, however, the army sneaked in behind the crowd to push out an elected president, thus greatly undermining what should have been the power of the people. This portends a great danger for other wobbly democracies in Africa. This, unfortunately, has sharpened the rift between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, as well as other opposition members, who are now being seen as enemies of democracy. But democracy is not just about periodic elections, it is also about the rule of law, liberty, openness and inclusiveness. The Interim President, Adly Mahmud Mansour, a judge of the country’s Constitutional Court, has a big task on his hands trying to weld a polarised nation together. It will be in the best interest of Mansour and the military to learn from the crisis that followed the annulment of an election in 1992 that the Islamists were almost winning in Algeria. Egypt must not be allowed to slip into violence and civil war. It is, therefore, necessary to speed up the process of a quick return to representative government.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 08:09:20 +0000