Protesters seeking to oust Morsi have given the president 24 hours to vacate his seat. They are dead set in regaining the democracy they thought they had achieved with their blood during the last revolution, and to be sure the message is clear, they have set the Muslim Brotherhood's building on fire and then looted it.
The looters took out molotov cocktail, helmets, flack jackets, furniture, documents and what ever they could get their hands on.
The protesters have pitched tent. They are not moving, even in the scorching Egyptian summer. They are in Tahrir square to stay, to finish the job they had begun two years ago.
A smaller number of protesters have come to support Moris, but they are outmatched. They see the democratic election as a mandate for his rule, one that should not be questioned. It seems beyond their comprehension that having taken power democratically, Morsi then earnestly sought to remove the very democratic tools that allowed him to accede to power. The idea of course is to create the beginning of an Islamist rule, and to do so, Morsi and the Brotherhood must remove whatever obstacles there are that could challenge their rule in the future. The changes in the Constitution were just that, and presaged even deeper violations of democracy to come.
The numbers of protesters against the Morsi presidency are staggering. Some say they are between 14 and 17 million people, the largest ever number of protesters in such demonstrations.
Morsi's attempts at mollifying the crowds with his speech on Sunday fell flat. In fact, most protesters were irked by what seemed like tone deafness by the President to the demands of the demonstrators.
The protesters, now calling themselves Tamarod, a group of protest if you will, rejected his speech, and called for both the army and the police to lay down their arms and support the opposition.
But the biggest challenge for Morsi is to show that he can steer Egypt out of its economic downfall. He has asked and received aid from Arab neighbors to the tune of 11 billion, which will have to be repaid. Yet, the economy has continued to falter, and will not return to stability until tourism resumes, and with news of clashes and lynchings that seem to be ignored by the police, tourists are staying away.
Either way, this is not going away. The protesters have the numbers on their side. Although Morsi supporters and followers of the Muslim Brotherhood insist they are in the majority, the handful of them who have reached the streets are no match for the millions that have risen again.
Source : Al Jazeera/ 7.1.13
No comments:
Post a Comment