Daily Times

Mohamed Morsi, nominee of the Muslim Brotherhood, became the first ever elected president of Egypt. Morsi received nearly 52 percent votes from the electorate and took charge of the country in mid-2012. The Muslim Brotherhood had endured persecution at the hands of the ruling elite for more than six decades. A number of its leaders, including its founder Syed Kutub, were tried in the alleged assassination of President Nasser and executed. Large numbers of Brotherhood activists suffered imprisonment for years but kept the party afloat with a different name. Morsi and his party’s ascent to power were not taken graciously by vested interest groups as well as the ruling elites of the Gulf countries. Morsi inherited a recalcitrant defence force, a sceptical bureaucracy and hostile elite at home. It was expected that Morsi would tread carefully to steer the country towards the path of democracy. Tayeb Erdogan of Turkey could have been a model for Morsi since the Turkish leader and his party had gone through an almost similar trajectory years ago.
However, Morsi became complacent after the Hamas-Israeli conflict in November 2012 where he skillfully incorporated the legitimate demands of the Palestinians in the ceasefire agreement. Morsi came out triumphant and his role in peacemaking received acknowledgment at home and in the region. Notwithstanding the stigma of the Brotherhood, the US resumed its partnership with the new leadership in Egypt. It encouraged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend financial support to Egypt, which was still recovering from the aftermath of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak.
Morsi did not translate his triumphs into a diplomatic arsenal to secure international recognition and present himself as a moderate politician. Instead, he issued several decrees aiming at consolidating power and making him above judicial scrutiny. These squalid measures produced divisions in the coalition he led in overthrowing the Mubarak regime. The political parties who joined the uprising became suspicious of Morsi. They felt that the government was following the footsteps of the Islamic Salvation Front of Algeria, which had tried in vain to translate electoral victory into one party rule. The opposition parties demanded annulment of the decrees but the government responded by rounding up protestors and shutting down the media critical of the administration. It was alleged that more journalists were imprisoned during the one-year rule of Morsi than in decades of the previous regime. Tahrir Square, swollen with millions, demanded the resignation of the government. The army, which had never acquiesced to civilian rule, moved in and dislodged President Morsi in July 2013.
The removal of a democratically elected government did not cause much outcry in the international community. The US administration debated for a while whether it was a military coup but settled at “aiming at restoring democracy”. The governments of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, concerned at the Arab Spring emanating from Tunisia, overthrowing totalitarian regimes and coming to their backyard, welcomed the removal of the Brotherhood regime. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as a humanitarian gesture, provided financial assistance to Cairo to restore stability to the economy.
The junta promised democracy but came down heavily against the Brotherhood. During the past 10 months, about 16,000 activists were imprisoned and 2,500 killed. The Brotherhood leaders are undergoing trials. A military court in March handed down death sentences to 529 activists over the alleged murder of a police officer and another court awarded the death sentence in April to 639 persons, including the chief of the Brotherhood, for killing another police person in Cairo. The verdicts have brought worldwide condemnation but the junta has not given any indication about whether it will consider a review of the court’s orders.
Now the election for president has been set for May 26 and 27. General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the chief architect of the military takeover, is the official candidate. He has promised jobs and employment for the youth but, in the same breath, he has pledged to exterminate the Brotherhood. Hamdhin Sabahee, a former presidential hopeful who secured 20 percent votes in the 2012 election, has joined the presidential race. It is widely believed that he has been brought in to confer legitimacy to the election. The Brotherhood has been debarred from participating. Ironically, moderates, including Amer Musa, the former secretary general of the Arab League and Mohamed ElBaradai, the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came out in support of the dismissal of Morsi’s government. They were concerned that Morsi was heading for an agenda repugnant to a secular democratic society.
Over 50 percent of Egypt’s 86 million population is the youth, which is 25 years of age or less. They want freedom and liberty in addition to jobs and business. The military government is apparently trying to boost the economy on a priority basis. It has been able to attract the UAE to invest $ 40 billion in the housing project to construct one million apartments in major cities. South Korea has indicated to set up a Coco Cola plant. Saudi Arabia will provide a financial grant while the Gulf States, led by Qatar, will be willing to make investments as long as a special blend of governance prevails in Egypt. These measures are expected to inject new life into the economy and engage the youth in the pursuit of trade and commerce.
Egypt, notwithstanding being the home of totalitarianism, has led the Arab World both in war and peace since the end of World War II. It led the wars against Zionism and, when it found the mission impossible, joined the bandwagon of peace. In both scenarios it paid a heavy price. In the 1967 war against Israel, Egypt lost control over the Suez Canal, the lifeline of the country. In search of peace, it entered into an agreement with Israel in 1978. The Arabs got disenchanted, expelled Egypt from the Arab League and President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. However, Egypt remained steadfast in its way. In the 1990s, Jordan and the Palestinians followed suit and made peace deals with the Jewish state of Israel. Egypt returned to centre-stage.
Following the 1973 war against Israel, Egypt realised the paramount urgency to modernise its armed forces and revitalise its economy. President Sadat was convinced that these would not be possible without decamping from the Soviet bloc. He was quick to respond to President Carter’s call for peace and concluded the Camp David Agreement. Though peace in the Middle East still remained elusive, Egypt was able to rebuild its army, devastated in the 1967 war, regained ownership over the Suez Canal and revived its moribund economy.
Egypt has made a number of historic decisions of which it is proud. It nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956 and confronted the combined enemy forces of the UK, France and Israel. President Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977 in a quest for peace and outlined Arab demands in the Israeli parliament. These historic steps brought dividends to the region at a later stage. Now the time has again come for making bold and far reaching decisions; this is about the restoration of democracy. Totalitarianism is an outdated and repressive system of governance incompatible with the 21st century. Pluralism is still the best option of governance where rulers may change but people always win. The Brotherhood has squandered an opportunity to establish democracy in the country. The winners of the May 27 presidential elections will face a litmus test in the coming days: either renounce dictatorship and pave the way for a democratic system or get prepared to confront a larger, more brutish Tahrir Square. It would be wise not to wait for the latter.

The writer is a former official of the United Nations