Morsi proved to be an inept ruler, who failed to grasp the crux of circumstances around him.
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: The years 2011 and 2012 saw a painful unfolding of political events in Egypt. In the sequel of all of that, parliamentary elections were held for the People’s Assembly from November 2011 through to January 2012 and eventually Mohamed Morsi was elected president of Egypt on June 18, 2012.
Morsi had a narrow win by 52 per cent of the popular vote against Shafiq who got 48 per cent, in a run-off election. It may be recalled, at that time the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) headed by Field Marshal Hussain Tantawi in a declaration restricted the powers of the presidency thus invoking a reaction and protest in Tahrir Square.
Once Morsi took office, matters did not go well. In mid-August 2012, he fired Field Marshal Tantawi and even reversed the earlier declaration by the military, which had restricted the president’s powers. Later, he changed the law so that all his decisions would be barred from judicial review. This angered the judiciary and invoked a reaction from it. This was not helped by a faltering economy, with high levels of unemployment and an acute energy shortage.
In short Morsi proved to be an inept ruler, who failed to grasp the crux of the circumstances around him and did not take a careful and wise path. So, in a way, it could be said that he was the architect of his own downfall. I would say that what happened in Egypt was a case of killing the patient to kill the disease and this is unfortunate and doesn’t bode very well for the future of that country.
Shaukat Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2013.
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