On my last visit to Cairo in March, I was hit by a post-revolutionary reality when I arrived at the airport. The planes coming from Europe are much smaller now, as if proving the country’s stature has somehow diminished. I was through passport control in under five minutes, an unheard phenomenon in the past. I’m usually put off by the swarm of men offering their help with my luggage, for some meandering tips. But this time what struck me, as I looked around the baggage carousel, was the absence of tourists. There were just a couple of courageous ones, who against all odds, decided to take the trip they had been dreaming about for years.
Then I cried for how desolate and pitiful the airport looked.
Bombs and massacres hadn’t kept the tourists away over the years. But put some bearded men in power, and even the migratory birds might change their trajectory! I know the analogy is a not fair, but facial hair is what nowadays distinguishes the various (religious) factions in Egypt.
Tourism has plummeted since the revolution to the extent that the Finance Ministry proposed to rent out key monuments as a solution to the current deficit in state budget. Thankfully, this proposal was met with outrage. If the Ministry had gone forward, it would have provoked another uprising! The proposal demonstrates, though, the magnitude of the country’s current economic catastrophe. Around 17 million people working in the tourism industry have lost the means to earn a living.
Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood (MB) affiliates have been systematically trashing the country. My country. He has made a mockery of all that the revolution stands for. The prosecutor general, nicknamed the private prosecutor, freezes the assets of a prominent investor and, a couple of days later, a court reverses the decision. He orders the arrests of so and so. Another court lets them go. A pull and tug judiciary war, in which courts resist the unpopular prosecutor general’s decisions at every turn. This war started back in November 2012, when our democratically elected president announced a constitutional decree that put him above the law. Granting himself quasi-divine power and preventing all legal challenges to his forthcoming decisions, Morsi explained that his actions were temporary until the constitution was written and the People’s Assembly formed. Fast-forward a couple of months, the constitution was indeed ratified—an express constitution, for it was written in 24 hours!—but we still don’t have an assembly. Subverting the rule of law and blatantly disregarding the process that brought him to power, Morsi has in fact delegitimized his own presidency, as many Egyptian citizens are skeptical of letting another pharaoh rule. Morsi’s early decree clarified breaks in the political sphere, as well as divisions among the people. Egyptian politics and citizens are definitely polarized, and this polarization could lead to dangerous confrontations. It’s now Ikhwan (MB) against the people. The confrontation with judges continues, especially since the MB dominated Shura Council—the upper house of the Egyptian parliament—is now endowed with legislative power, and is out to undercut judicial authority. They have cut the retirement age of judges from 70 to 60 and mandated that judges participate in supervising elections (which judges have been boycotting).
Meanwhile, Morsi has been bypassing and disregarding the very constitution that he expedited. For instance, he appointed the prosecutor general instead of choosing from three names nominated by the Supreme Judges. The judiciary is proving to be an obstacle to (what oppositional voices term) the “brotherhoodization” of the country. Morsi’s government is made up solely by MB partisans, so much so that many Salafis (and their respective party, El Nour) feel betrayed. The president is managing to alienate even his biggest political ally.
The Ministry of Interior has been so busy “defending” the headquarters of the MB, which has been targeted by graffiti artists, that vigilantes have taken the law into their own hands to guarantee a semblance of security, while our wise president advocates citizen arrests. Plaints from the public have gone unheard, unless they involve upholding religious strictures or insults to the president. The prosecutor general is busy harassing and ordering arrests of media figures and comedians, instead of trying to reestablish order in the streets.
Since he became president, Morsi has proved himself incapable of ruling Egypt. Accused of furthering his party’s plans for an Islamic nation (beyond Egypt), he is condemned and ridiculed. I never imagined I’d hear this president proclaim himself a provisional dictator to safeguard the revolution until national safety and stability are established. As he systematically and threateningly waives his index finger at us, his speeches are surely farcical. They are filled with historical inaccuracies. Youssef Zeidan, a renowned Egyptian historian, enumerated all the errors the president made in a “big” speech in Pakistan, such as attributing the discovery of pulmonary circulation to Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni instead of Ibn Al-Nafis, and stating that Ibn Khaldun defined sociology, when it was Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim. Moreover, Morsi misquotes our famous poets. His Prime Minister, on the other hand, tweets about Smurfs (yes he did!).
Egyptians were ready to embrace a regime that would restore their sense of dignity and respect revolutionary demands for “bread, freedom, and social justice.” But they are now faced with one that perpetuates fear-mongering and oppression, adding on sexual terrorism (from harassment to mass public rapes) and hereticization. Instead of looking for solutions to Egypt’s economic woes, the new government wants to silence voices of dissent, whether on the street or the TV screen.
Yet this silly regime is supported by the Obama administration, which occasionally shrugs to express its “disapproval.” And Time magazine asked whether Morsi should be Person of the Year! (Admittedly, candidates included Bashar Assad and Benjamin Netanyahu, so it might have been a joke!)
The rise of a formerly oppressed party to power hasn’t diminished the pharoanic oppression that the revolution decried. The MB means to pave the road for an even more radical and tyrannical rule as it attempts to crush civil liberties by forcing legal restrictions on NGOs, especially human rights organizations. At the end of May, a bill called “Civil Society Organizations” was announced. It has been sharply criticized by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Hopes for a swift transition to a genuinely democratic Egypt are rapidly waning, as another police state seems on the horizon.
On the other hand, to counter the religious extremism that has increased since the MB has come to power, Al Azhar, the leading center of Islamic learning in the world, has decided to launch its own TV channel. Their rhetoric aims to promote religious moderation and resist the many channels that spew religious hate, publicizing extreme fatwas and defaming liberal figures in the opposition and in the media.
While Morsi is not looking for solutions to revive the Egyptian economy—the government is cutting power and water for hours a day to “solve” its deficiency in diesel fuel—and doesn’t seem overly concerned with public opinion, Ethiopia has decided to divert water from the Nile and build a dam. This dam could prove detrimental to Egypt, as it might diminish the supply of water and electricity, affecting millions of people reliant on agriculture. In addition, there are reasons to be wary about Morsi’s plans to revamp the Suez Canal. He is expediting the Suez Canal Corridor project, claiming that it will have positive effects on the economy. Critics of this project, however, worry Egypt will lose its sovereignty over the Canal, which would be damaging to an economy that relies heavily on Canal revenues. Morsi’s puny attempts to deliver on his promise of an Egyptian nahda (renaissance) are now met with skepticism and derision.
There is, though, a silver lining: Egyptians’ ingenuity at expressing dissent. Alongside the political devolution, we are witnessing a cultural and communication…renaissance. People are no longer afraid, and this surge of courage has given birth to various creative initiatives. Outside the opposition parties, Egyptian citizens are loudly expressing their discontent and dissent. Their protests are undeniable. They are heard and seen, and the ruling regime feels flustered by the unvanquished voices of the people. Not that the current government needs any help in looking like incompetent nincompoops (much like the Tea Party and the GOP!). Egypt’s creative outpouring of dissent encompasses music groups, TV shows, films, and street art. The incompetency of the MB is being exposed inside the Egyptian popular imaginary!
Many Egyptians are unifying against Morsi’s regime. In April, a campaign entitled Tamrod (Rebellion) was launched to collect signatures to remove Morsi, calling for early presidential elections. So far, it has gathered over 7.5 million signatures, with the hope of reaching 15 million by June 30. This initiative is a media project created by activists from the Kefaya (Enough) movement. Ultimately, it aims at withdrawing confidence from the president because he has failed to uphold the demands of the revolution.
Egyptians will not stand idly by while Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood build another tyrannical police state masquerading as a democracy of façade. The MB stands accused of making a sham of Islam and popular sovereignty, and most importantly, of betraying the revolution. Accustomed to being the opposition, their rule is antagonizing, not solidarizing. You might not be aware of this season of Egyptian discontent, but silence is not a sign that all is well in the land of the pharaohs. Many fear that the Egyptian revolution has died, “Not with a bang but a whimper.” Maybe it needed to die, so as to be reborn with more creativity, a stronger core, and more potential to sustain its democratic ideals.
Of course, we don’t know if (or when) the army is plotting a coup! It’s been suspiciously silent. But the Egyptian people will cross that hurdle if (or when) the time comes.
From June, 2013