The Rise and Fall of Mohammed Morsy of Egypt
Morsey and Humpty Dumpty
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Morsy was deposed by the army and placed under arrest at the Guards center in Cairo. Latest reports suggest that he has been taken to an undisclosed destination. His rise from obscurity to presidency within a short time is without peer. On 3 July he was deposed hours after a deadline set by the generals to order reforms expired.
The Rise of Morsy
Morsi is a strict Islamist and was educated in Southern California. He was born in a small village a mere 2 hour drive from Cairo. Morsi was thrust into the lime light when the Brotherhoods first choice candidate was disqualified. Morsi was asked to stand for election.
He was elected Egypt's president after a campaign in which he focused on appealing to the broadest possible audience. Morsi won the election with a little over 50% of the vote in 2012
Morsy, is backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood formed in 1928 has always been at loggerheads with the army and Morsi during the rule of Mubarak was arrested a number of times for opposing the military. The Brotherhood has always had an Islamic agenda and minorities and liberals are wary of it. It is Egypt’s best organized political party.
Failure of Morsy
Morsy’s inexperience let him down. His assumption that having won the election, conferred legitimacy on him to effect changes was extremely short sighted. In August he had made a significant move against the military leadership by sending Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi into oblivion and retirement. The Field Marshal was the country’s de facto ruler, after the exit of Mubarak.
He followed up by another step that alarmed not only the army, but people who were generally opposed to the Brotherhood. In November he issued a presidential edict declaring his decisions immune from judicial review. He followed up by sacking the head of the judiciary. With this he gave a handle to supporters of Mubarak to rally together. More than this many felt he was on his way to becoming a dictator. He also carried out a controversial referendum on his proposal to draft a new constitution. This alienated many people and alarmed Christians, other minorities and liberals.
The opposition to Morsy
Supporters of the old regime, the opposition and the minorities all joined hands and started a series of demonstrations against Morsi. The Egyptian economy also took a beating and the blame fell on Morsy. Economic mismanagement at home saw a shrinking economy that saw the average Egyptian earning less.
Morsi was sitting on a tinder box and it’s surprising he didn’t see it. He withdrew the edict regarding judicial review of his powers, but demonstrations against him gathered steam.
The army looking for a way to come back to power gave an ultimatum to Morsi to negotiate with the opposition. Morsi did nothing, but in a rambling speech broadcast live over Radio appealed to his core constituency only. Anti Morsy demonstrations now gathered steam. Army chief, Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi after a brief meeting deposed him. The military's intervention followed days of opposition protests, during which hundreds of thousands of people massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other places in Egypt demanding that Morsi step down and call for fresh elections.
Final denouement
In all Morsy squandered a great opportunity to be inclusive instead of exclusive. His failure to reach out to the opposition and only appealing to the core of his constituency the brotherhood and its supporters led to his ouster. When the army moved in, the guards of Morsi simply melted away
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The situation in Egypt is so polarized that many of the demonstrators are feeling the coming back of the army is a good thing. Morsi in detention will have plenty of time to think where he went wrong. As meteoric as his rise, his downfall has been equally spectacular.
His supporters are thronging the streets, but many have been shot dead by the army. The army will not let Morsy come back.
Last Word
In hindsight Morsy should not have pushed his Islamization so hard. Many were alarmed at his recommendation to lower the marriage of girls and plural wives along with the introduction of the Sharia. People wanted jobs and money and not rhetoric. This is where Morsy failed. He had a great fall like Humpty Dumpty and is now being tried for treason.
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