Morsi was a democratically elected president who should have been removed democratically.
LAHORE: Recent news stories reveal that Egyptian courts are handing down death sentences to hundreds of Morsi supporters. Needless to say, this is a barbaric development. Al Sisi quits as military chief to contest presidential elections. A sham election, everyone knows. So much for democracy in Egypt. A long dictatorship in a Third World country, followed by a mass uprising, followed by elections, followed by a brief display of unrivalled incompetence by an elected government, followed by a military coup, followed by world and regional powers not-so-secretly supporting it, followed by sham trails of political opponents and violence throughout. Deja vu, perhaps?
In reality, this story is far lengthier, viler and more deplorable than it appears to be. Between the lines is another story of hypocrisy, duplicity, betrayal, treachery and stupidity that characterises world politics. One must brush aside the conspiracy theorists and understand that the Arab Spring was genuine. The bloodshed was real. The clamours at Tahrir Square were real. The removal of Hosni Mubarak was indeed a victory. Holding elections was the right step but what happened afterwards was not the fault of those who supported democracy and probably also went against their expectations to a great extent. Handicapped by his Brotherhood background, Morsi was destined to fail from the very beginning. The world didn’t want him. His own “liberal” countrymen didn’t want him. Morsi might have been naive, ill-advised, short-sighted or even foolish. But was not he a democratically elected president who should have been removed democratically, if it was needed? The answer is: “yes”. And this should come with the realisation that there was nothing democratic about the way he was deposed.
The silence from the champions of democracy and human rights over his undemocratic ouster, brutal handling of protests and shameless political victimisation beg colossal questions. But who is the real loser here? Morsi? No. It is the people of Egypt. The people of Egypt have paid the price they didn’t even owe. And they will continue to experience this.
Atif Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2014.
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