I may be wrong but I get the impression that the military historically has backed the people in Egypt when ever the government/old monarchy shows that it is not for the people. Hopefully this is an example of that rather than a descent into dictatorship.
I may be wrong but I get the impression that the military historically has backed the people in Egypt when ever the government/old monarchy shows that it is not for the people. Hopefully this is an example of that rather than a descent into dictatorship.
Historically, the military has ruled Egypt...
It was the military that overthrew the monarchy in the 1950s. Somehow the country never made the transition to a democracy, and the military party that originally overthrew the monarchy remained in power.
That being said, the army did relinquish power and hold elections last time, when Mubarak was ousted.
It was the military that overthrew the monarchy in the 1950s. Somehow the country never made the transition to a democracy, and the military party that originally overthrew the monarchy remained in power.
That being said, the army did relinquish power and hold elections last time, when Mubarak was ousted.
I was always curious how that worked, only ever have read bits and pieces in news stories and anything I remember from way back in high school.
They didn't just oust Mursi, the constitution is also suspended.
The army is saying a lot of right things:
- promising a quick new parliamentary elections
- a new broadly inclusive panel will be formed to plan the new constitution; some youth organizations are also invited
The second largest muslim party, the ultra-religious Nour and the leaders of the Christian and moderate islamic groups have given their backing to the armies actions.
TV channels backing Mursi have also been silenced.
The Muslim brotherhood has been left pretty much alone and somewhat isolated. I guess radicalization is to be expected from their part.
Head of the supreme constitutional court Adly Mansour will serve as interim president. He was actually appointed to his current position by Morsi. Also, on top of serving the the civil and criminal courts, has also served in the religious courts that deliver fatwas. Trained in France (Ecole Nationale de l'Administration, unsurprisingly). However, he is mostly an unknown character in Egypt, and my random guess would be that he's not a person of strong political convictions.
EDIT: Not surprisingly, Al-Jazeera seems to have the most informed analysis on the current political situation, including three potential mid-term scenarios. Worth reading for those interested.
So is it safe to travel there? I'm supposed to go on a trip to Egypt, among other places, in a year. Haven't checked the travel advisories lately.
You can go to this website http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories for all of Foreign Affairs current travel advisories. Right now they are advising against non-essential travel for Egypt (and all travel to certain areas) but that could change by the time you leave.
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A (distant) friend visited Egypt recently. By his words they haven't been aggressive against tourists, so unless a full blown civil war breaks out you should be okay. Pretty much everybody in Egypt is hoping that the tourist business picks up again.
Also, apparently since there are so few tourists the prices are better than they have been before and no worry of crowds, lines and every place being full. The downside is that fending off everybody that wants your money might get annoying.
We'll have to see how this solves the fundamental problem in today's Egypt; the economy sucks ass and is getting worse. Obviously the Morsi power-grab didn't work so what's the next solution?
The suck-ass state of the economy is the biggest factor. The people protesting are sick of being broke more than anything else. Sure there are secular elements of the protesters and yes there are folks who had jobs and stability under Mubarak, and would support that faction returning to power. But there are plenty who are ideologically with the Muslim brotherhood, think a more traditional, Islamist rule is fine, as long as they can buy bread. United in the sentiment that 'you guys suck, get out', rather than, 'we want our guy/side in there'.
The economic factor is also downplayed by Western media, least the idea of taking to the streets in opposition to failed economic policies.
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My wife and her family (Egyptians) felt that Al Jazeera's coverage of this has been biased. The Qatar influence seems to be seeping in when events run counter to the objectives of the monarchy. Qatar has funneled quite a bit of money into the brotherhood over the last few years and they didn't seem to like the idea of watching Morsy and the gang get tossed by the Army. The Arabic version has always seemed like propaganda, but even the English version has changed lately.
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This is awesome for Egypt! They are a country that have proven how powerful they are as citizens. They Want a government who wants to help its people and make the country an incredible place for everyday life. They wont take any less then that, and they have proven they will throw up arms if they have to.
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I do have to wonder if this is a good thing or not.
It sets a dangerous precedence for a Democratically elected govt to be ousted by a very vocal minority.
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You can go to this website http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories for all of Foreign Affairs current travel advisories. Right now they are advising against non-essential travel for Egypt (and all travel to certain areas) but that could change by the time you leave.
The funny thing is a month ago, the travel advisory on Egypt just said "high degree of caution" for Egypt... so tough to really count on Egypt and its instability. On top of that, the worry of the Corona virus.
(I had planned on going to Egypt later on this year...)
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Until middle-eastern governments understand governing via the concepts of inclusiveness and minority rights under majority rule, they will always be unstable and eventually topple under the corrupting power of only looking after their own interests or the interests of certain groups.
The Muslim Brotherhood only looked after the interests of the more hard-line Sunni Muslim majority and ignored the liberals, other Muslim groups, other religious groups, seculars, etc. Morsi even sat quietly in the chairs behind clerics giving speeches denouncing Shia Muslims in Egypt as scum. The leader of a country needs to represent and look after all people and interests in that country. Without that understanding, they are always going to be corrupted by their own power.
Last edited by Hack&Lube; 07-07-2013 at 08:50 AM.
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I do have to wonder if this is a good thing or not.
It sets a dangerous precedence for a Democratically elected govt to be ousted by a very vocal minority.
I've heard this echoed a lot and I think the reasoning is a little flawed.
When a democratically elected government stops acting democratically, isn't the most democratic action to take to protest? And if they refuse to change, what other choice is there?
Just because Morsi was elected doesn't mean his government is, was, or would be 'democratic.' It wasn't just the way he was making the country 'more Islamic'. He was actually consolidating his power, creating a regime of his own. Elected or not, that is not democratic.
If a leader ever did that in the western world, the most democratic thing to do would be to punt them from government.
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