What Egypt seems to have lacked, in large part due to its rule by corrupt military dictators, was democratic culture.
LAHORE: Whatever the weaknesses of the legitimately elected Morsi government in Egypt, they would be minuscule compared with the damage inflicted by draconian military rule in Pakistan lasting several decades and which has destroyed the country economically, culturally and spiritually.
Egypt’s territory has shrunk and it has suffered humiliating military defeats while it was under military rule. There are civilised political ways and means to resolve differences in democracies all over the world and military intervention is never a cure. What Egypt seems to have lacked, in large part due to its rule by corrupt military dictators, was a democratic culture, an independent judiciary and tolerance necessary for democracy to survive.
Morsi won the elections but failed to understand that although he had support of roughly 52 per cent of the voting population, the remaining 49 per cent was very averse to his ideology and plans for a system based on the Muslim Brotherhood’s manifesto and objectives. He should have strengthened democratic institutions and tried to achieve a consensus for his changes instead of first trying to enforce his own ideology on a clearly divided nation. Morsi should have understood that the powerful military with its vast corporate interests, would conspire against him and exploit the situation, which it did in the end.
It is no coincidence that the two countries in the region, politically and strategically poles apart, having one thing in common, democratically-elected governments, namely Israel and Iran, have strong professional armies, abundance of developed human resources, and capable to defend their national objectives. The rest of the countries in the region, in spite of vast natural resources, ruled by monarchs and tin-pot dictators, have neither the necessary human resources, nor the commitment necessary for states to survive. They have huge armies, involved in corporate business ventures, living in luxurious housing societies provided by the state, deciding policy matters, which should be left to civilian specialists in economics, science, medicine, health, engineering and technology and so on.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2013.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
