Islamist Mohamed Morsi Wins Egyptian Presidency

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 24, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

          Celebrating his victory in Tahrir Square, 61-year-old Muslim Brotherhood backup candidate Mohamed Morsi promised to serve all Egyptians, not only those bent on Islamic fundamentalism.  U.S. officials were most concerned about handing the Mideast’s most populous country over to Islamic extremists, something grossly overstated in the press.  With a population of over 81 million and 50 million eligible voters, Morsi won 13,230,131 votes or 51.7%, a staggering figure when you consider 843,253 votes were invalidated, besting 71-year-old former Mubarak-era Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq who collected 12,347,380 voters or 48.3%.  Before the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] certified the election, there were nervous moments after the June 16-17 vote, where Tahrir’s Revolutionary Square flooded with protesters demanding an end to military rule.

            Emerging as an independent state from British rule June 18, 1953, Egypt was ruled by Gen. Muhammad Naguib until 1956 when Col.. Gamel Abdel Nasser, who evicted the British from the Suez Canal July 26, 1956 and completed the Aswan Dam shortly before his lonely death Sept. 28, 1970, took over.  Nasser died in disgrace less than three years after a humiliating defeat to Israel June 5-10, 1967.  Nasser handed the reigns to Nobel-peacemaker Anwar Sedat who led Egypt until his untimely death Oct. 6, 1981 at the hands of Islamic militants, perhaps, ironically, related to the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi’s political party.  Egypt’s Air Force Commander Hosni Mubarak assumed office Oct. 11, 1981, until driven from power in the so-called Arab Spring Feb. 11, 2011.  When Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat el-Shater was disqualified, Mohamed Morsi replaced him.

            U.S. and Western leaders would be well-advised not to paint Morsi with the broad brush of Islamic extremism.  Morsi, who graduated from Cairo University in 1975 and 1978 with his bachelors and masters degrees in engineering, headed to Los Angeles, California, where he earned his engineering Ph.D. in 1982 at the University of Southern California.  Part of the Trojan family, Morsi took a teaching job at California State University, Northridge in 1982, where he stayed until 1985 when he returned to Egypt to teach engineering at Zagazig University, on the Nile, 50 miles northeast of Cairo.  Two of Morsi’s five children were born in the States and are U.S. citizens.  Morsi becomes the first non-military ruler in Egypt’s 59-year modern history.  While the press focuses on Morsi’s Islamist background, he’s more strongly rooted in his U.S.-based Western engineering education.

            Morsi’s connection to the Islamic fundamentalists was about as strong as former President George W. Bush’s links to Christian evangelicals, whom Bush, and his chief strategist Karl Rove, developed as a coherent voting block.  Morsi headed Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party in 2011, becoming a candidate in 2012 once el-Shater was disqualified.  “We got to this moment because of the blood of the martyrs of the revolution,” said Morsi spokesman Ahmed Abdel-Attie, describing the “joy” of the “historic moment,” where those mowed down in Tahrir Square by pro-Mubarak militias finally get a chance at a new Egyptian democracy.  Egyptian Election Commission chairman Farouk Sultan called Morsi’s election “an important phase in the end of building our nascent democratic experience,” asking Egyptians, of all faiths, including Coptic Christians, to celebrate.  Unlike other Islamic-based regimes, Morsi promises to be more moderate.  

            Given Morsi’s Western ties, he’s more likely to build strong coalitions with the U.S. and European Union.  On paper, he walks a fine line with Sedat’s 1978 peace treaty with Israel, recognizing his base and, at the same time, recalling what happened to Nasser when he committed himself to destroy Israel.  Morsi inherits massive political, economic and social problems, including staggering unemployment and widespread poverty.  Promising to work to be “president of Egytians,” Morsi’s campaign spokesman Gehad el-Haddad announced that Morsi resigned his position in the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party.  Anti-Mubarak and pro-Democracy protesters in Tahrir Square seek an open and moderate approach to governing, not a Taliban-like Islamic theocracy.  Morsi’s strong links to the West make him an ideal Egyptian president to replace Mubarak.

            Egypt has with Morsi the same potential for enlightened leadership as former U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed el-Baradei.  El-Baradei, who ran early on for Egyptian president, couldn’t capture the Islamic vote so essential to Morsi’s victory.  Morsi will have to walk the same tightrope pandering, on the one hand, to anti-Israeli sentiment, while, on the other, to current peace treaties and Western expectations.  “This is not the end of the game.  It’s the start of a huge responsibility,” said el-Haddad.  “It comes with more challenges, turning from being the largest opposition group in Egypt to leading the country with its national front,” recognizing the balancing act with Egypt’s military.  Egypt’s military promised June 30 to officially return Egypt to civilian rule.  Morsi has the best shot of satisfying the military and Muslim Brotherhood to stay in power.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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