Morsi-Muslim Brotherhood Evicted from Egypt

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 4, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                      

              Repeating the relatively bloodless coup that ejected 82-year-old autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power Feb.11, 2011, the people rose again in Egypt’s Tahrir Square dumping U.S.-educated, 61-year-old Muslim Brotherhood puppet Mohamed Morsi.  With Fourth-of-July-like fireworks lighting up the Cairo sky, millions of jubilant Egyptians celebrated the one-year end of Morsi’s reign.  When he won Egypt’ first election June 24, 2012 with 51.7% of the vote, Egypt thought it was a new day.  Instead of governing from the center, Morsi became a Muslim Brotherhood patsy, hijacking Egypt’s first democratically verified election.  Suspected of fixing the election, the Muslim Brotherhood quickly grabbed power, with Morsi obediently falling suit.  Calling the military’s power-grab a “full coup,” Morsi couldn’t admit his abysmal failure as Egypt’s leader.

             Morsi’s personally appointed Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pulled off the coup, after he gave the beleaguered Islmic president 48-hours to share power.  “Down with the rule of the military,” chanted Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters, unable to stop the military from ejecting him from power.  El-Sissi told millions of peaceful demonstrators that the military would honor the will of the people.  Saying that the military coup “represents a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation,” Morsi couldn’t accept that Egyptians rejected Muslim Brotherhood rule and the strong-arm tactics used to consolidate power and write an Islamic-biased Constitution.  Speaking to the nation on military TV, el-Sissi reassured Egyptians that he would appoint the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court as interim president and move quickly to stabilize the government.

             Saying Morsi “did not meet the demands of the mass of the people,” el-Sissi refuted Morsi’s Twitter feed calling the takeover a “military coup.”  Millions of elated demonstrators asked the military to intervene to free Egypt from Muslim Brotherhood rule.  Flanked with Egypt’s top Muslim cleric, the pope of the Coptic Christians, and former U.N. official and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed El-Baradei, el-Sissi “temporarily suspended” Morsi’s Islamic constitution and appointed technocrats to run Egypt’s government.  Fanning out around the Nile and Egyptian capital, the Egyptian military moved to maintain order, preventing the kind of violence and anarchy expected from a power vacuum.  El-Sissi also imposed a travel ban on Morsi and his top Muslim Brotherhood officials, including Chief Mohammed Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater.

             When Morsi won the election June 24, 2011, it was a surprise to many, considering his strong ties to the U.S., and, at the same time, his membership in the Muslim Brotherhood.  Barely defeating former Mubarak Defense Minister Abdul Fatah Khalil al-Sisi, Morsi sold himself as an outsider, minimizing his past U.S. contacts and ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  As soon as he took office, it became clear he was a Brotherhood puppet, whose election was a Trojan Horse imposing strict Islamic Sharia law on Egypt.  With the most educated and progressive population next to Israel in the Middle East, most Egyptians want progress, not strict Islamic law.  Only rich Saudis or Egyptians, dressed in full Islamic garbs, get the privilege of drinking to their heart’s content in Egypt exclusive hotels.  Rank-and-file Egyptians see the hypocrisy and want more opportunity and freedom. 

             Giving Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to form a coalition government with the opposition, Gen. el-Sissi put the 61-year-old former Cal State Northridge professor on notice that his days were numbered.  El-Sissi, a devout Muslim who believes his faith belongs in the Mosque not the Presidential Palace, showed selfless patriotism, mobilized the military to stop Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood takeover.  “He is against the revolution,” said 28-year-old Mahmoud Badr, the driving force behind the youth revolution.  “We salute the Army!  They have shown that they are with the people,” said Badr, proving, no matter what age or background, one person can rise to the occasion and make a difference.  When El-Sissi convenes the post-revolutionary summit with El-Baradei and Egypt’s top Muslim and Coptic leaders to brainstorm about a way forward, he needs to include Badr to keep the revolution intact.

             Egypt’s second revolution in two years proves that Badr’s grassroots organizing really works as long as you have the people’s backing.  Whatever Morsi’s past accomplishments, he was a weak leader, selling out the revolution at the behest of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Badr’s grassroots organizing struck a raw nerve with the vast majority of Egyptians that wish to continue the country’s long progressive tradition.  Morsi miscalculated the will of the people and paid the price.  “Now we want a president who would really be the president of all Egyptians and will work for the country,” said 19-year-old protester Shahin in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.  “Let’s start a new page, a page based on participation,” Badr wrote on his Twitter feed.  When the dust settles, el-Sissi and his brain-trust must hold-off on new elections until all responsible parties map out Egypt’s future.

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.