Why are liberals not supporting democracy in Egypt?

The US supported the coup against the democratically elected Islamic regime. Which 'democracy' supports dictatorship?

While the Egyptian Army is busy massacring Mursi supporters in Egypt, the West and local liberals have both turned mute. Hundreds have been killed and it is feared that the violence will escalate once the Egyptian Army resumes its standard operating procedure of ‘find-torture-kill’.

Champions of freedom and democracy, the US and the West, have once again shown their true colours of deceit, deception and hypocrisy as they fully supported the Sisi-led coup, without once thinking of the impact this could have on the democratically-elected government. Not once did they think to denounce the unhealthy military takeover. The Sisi-backed regime has, in fact, been applauded and endowed with a generous ‘aid’ package from the US of $1.3 billion and $5 billion from Saudi Arabia.

By providing unconditional support to the secular Egyptian Army, the West made it clear that ‘democracy’ in its ‘true’ essence, or ‘their version’ of it, is liberal, secular and has to be void of any Islamic influence. If, on the other hand, an Islamist regime is democratically elected, any action taken by the armed forces of that country to uproot the elected government is welcomed and not categorised as a ‘military coup or takeover’, but, in fact, as just the wish of ‘the people’. The massacre involved, and still taking place, should not be taken seriously as it is part of the ‘transition’ process. On top of that, the military government should be welcomed with financial aid for the ‘betterment of the people’ and the ‘strengthening of democracy’.

I firmly believe that in current times, this is the most naked, brute and raw expression of the double standards sported by the West towards its Muslim counterparts. Ironically, if now Mursi supporters turn to arms, they will be labelled terrorists, who are challenging the writ of the government, and on this account, any action from the Egyptian Army will be endorsed by the West as legal and in the name of tackling terrorism.

The Egyptian Army has already committed to holding ‘free and fair’ elections in the near future but how will this happen if the majority population voted for the Islamic regime not too long ago? Will their opinions change completely in favour of secularists or will these ‘free and fair’ elections be influenced, dare I say ‘rigged’?

If that is the case, I do believe that the West will welcome the elected government with open arms, regardless of the opinion of the people afterwards. The Egyptians will be congratulated on the restoration of democracy and the Muslim Brotherhood will once again resume the role of the opposition. Any protests against the new secular government will be condemned and once again, the world will become a superficially peaceful place — in line with the West’s standard of democracy. Congratulations in advance.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2013.

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