BY SOPHIA AZEB 

 

 

And now, heralded in by the 30 June protests and the many struggles of the past two years, another moment of joy tempered by our awareness that the fight is yet to come.

I am from Alexandria, and–as is my luck–had returned to the U.S. after a too-brief stay in the city that my father’s family still calls home. A brief time later, Alex seemed up in flames. Every conversation that I had or listened in on while back home was centered around Morsi and his broken promises. Morsi and his Mubarak-style silencing of journalists and opposition figures. Morsi and the Brotherhood (Ikhwan) and the filth endemic to the streets and the military and the police: all things he had promised to clean up.

I have some family and friends that are (or at least once were) supporters of Ikhwan.* But my family and friends, like most Egyptians, are very funny (I’ve covered our nation’s particular sense of humour before on AIAC). So, a joke my uncle shared before 30 June seems apt: “Under Mubarak, you look out the window and see the street and a gap. This is good, you can park there. Under Morsi, if you see your car still there and no police nearby… well, that is the good thing.” We drove by countless heaps of trash on the streets, some of it put into trenches dug by neighborhood residents and burned in an attempt to keep things a little more normal. The falafel stand I grew up with is shuttered. The price of bread and rice is astronomical by Egyptian standards. Morsi kept none of his promises, instead attacking straw men (and the judiciary) just as Mubarak had done all through his crumbling presidency. Worse, he would accuse his opponents of being “feloul” (literally, the remnant of a defeated army – in Morsi’s mind,  Mubarak supporters).

Unsurprisingly, much of the media in the Western world continues to frame these massive protests (some claim the largest in human history? though certainly immense all the same) as a struggle of the Egyptian peoples’ secular desires against Morsi and the Brotherhood’s Islamism. It would be too simple to dismiss Islamism as a factor in the protests against the government, but it was not only ‘secular’ Egyptians who took to the streets before and after June 30. Morsi, quite simply, did not live up to his promises. He did not clean up Egypt (either literally, or figuratively). He did not attempt to limit the power and ubiquity of the military in all aspects of Egyptian life (including its economy, agricultural sectors, and industrial operations). As Khaled Fahmy writes on CNN:

Winning with the slimmest margins, he found himself confronted by a stern judiciary, a hostile press, a powerful army and a corrupt police force. An unenviable situation, it is true, but he had the revolution behind him. Had he turned to us, we would have helped him tackle the army and the police, not overnight it is true, but we were willing to fight on. Instead, he chose to direct his wrath against the judiciary and the press, while letting the army and the police off the hook.

Morsi did not turn to the people, and so the revolution continued. Now, Egypt has a suspended constitution and the leader of the Supreme Constitution Court, Chief Justice Adli Mansour, as interim president. While Western media coverage of this moment in Egypt is predictably skewed toward the Islamist/Secularist binary that these news outlets depend on (don’t even get me started on coverage of Turkey…), another and similarly troubling claim is making its rounds right now.

Because the military took charge and ousted Morsi, and because Egyptians celebrate widely this ouster, the perception that Egyptians wanted a military coup is dangerously embedding itself in many conversations I am witnessing in the press, on television, and social media. This is not the coup of 1952, supported (though still critiqued) after the fact by the Egyptian people. This is the Egyptian military, the oldest, best organized, and best armed ‘political’ organization in the history of the country (thanks to 30 years of dictatorship and their most generous benefactor, the United States), attempting to appease and reign in control once more. Egyptians did want Morsi out – they did not want a coup.

Let me be as clear as I can be about this: Egyptians largely do not want the military to (continue to) rule. Many Egyptians fought Morsi in large part because he did not or could not curb the excessive power that the military has in every aspect of Egypt’s national, economic, and social well-being. This is vital to remember. As many of us cautioned in the first days as Mubarak stepped down: this fight is not over. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces in Egypt is a virus that remains to be beat. Let Egyptians celebrate their victory over Morsi, but do not think for a moment that we are not aware that SCAF is always, quietly, arranging as much as it can in its own favour. This is still a revolution. The popular resistance continues.

* And purportedly one great-uncle who was so invested in the Brotherhood that he refused to call my brother by his given name, and so hilariously altered it from “Karim” to “Karoom.”  ”Kumi” is the standard and less obnoxiously pious nickname for most Karims in Egypt.

>via: http://africasacountry.com/the-popular-resistance-in-egypt/

Egypt was home to an ancient civilizations that flourished along the banks of river Nile with the remains of the great Pyramids offering a glimpse into its magnitude and highlighting how Pharaohs were larger than life figures in that society.

It is indeed fascinating to rationalize the massive resources and man power spent constructing burial sites for a few godlike figures at the expense of the masses. Days of worshipping pharaohs are long gone and Egyptians are instead challenging the fabric of what we have come to know as western democracy.

The distinction between the conduct of the government and the expectation of an empowered populace has been as stark as the sands of the Sahara desert meeting the fertile soils of the Nile river valley.

The Egyptians are indeed setting a standard and emphatically stating that being president is not a promotion to the capacity of Pharaoh but rather a position of public service.  It would be too simplistic to argue that calling for regime change a year after electing new leadership is a threat to democracy. Indeed the common rebuttal is to suggest that citizens work though the political process and institutions of government to make their voices heard.

Cultivating a truly democratic state is a long journey filled with barriers but enactment of individual liberties and a level playing field doesn’t require decades— the Egyptian populace has spoken that they are unwilling to wait in line.

 

Fool me once- as leaders in young democracies often hide behind the walls of power consolidation with large signs reading “work in progress” is a bubble that has been busted.

It is not only self evident in Egypt but rather across the globe that upward mobility and having a fair shot for millions languishing in poverty is a myth.

The game is indeed rigged and has been for generations. The institutions of government are often at the mercy of special interest and the constitution– supposedly the law of the land used as bedrock for oppression. The changing demographics and thirst for inclusive governance rebukes individuals amassing power and mandates a triangulated agenda.  Morsi’s failure to remember the demands of the protestors that opened the window of opportunity for the presidency and his lack of initiative to change course from the status quo left the populace hopeless and helpless with only one institution of democracy to turn to— ‘Tahrir square’.

Growing economic, social and political discontent has resulted into the fall of numerous regimes amidst the Arab Spring and widespread protests and conflict continue to plague a growing list of nations that include Syria and Brazil among others.

As Thomas Jefferson once stated, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”  Tahrir square has become a launch pad for ‘people power’ in Egypt and inspired others across the globe.

This renewed belief has empowered disenfranchised populace and sent a chill down the spine of leaders who have for long assumed the status of Pharaohs using national resources to construct pyramids. The fear of ‘people power’ is evident as governments in nations like Uganda have militarized public venues such as the City Square and also scrambled to pass laws that prohibit public gathering without first seeking approval.

As a result of shutting down these essential checks and balances in many of our nations, the “people” have been separated from the government of the people, by the people and for the people. We are left in the midst of a poorly governed- empty shell of a democracy.

‘Tahrir Square Democracy’ is a paradigm shift and declaration that the people shall not let history repeat itself.  History tells us that first they ask for one year, then one term, then two, then three– by the time we wake up, it’s too late for reform and the walls of oppression and tyranny built to consolidate power are too high and fortified to climb.

Egypt faces a challenging and uncertain future but the determination and civic engagement of the populace is democracy at work. What the people have accomplished (with some help from the military) sends a strong message nonetheless to future leaders that they too will be held accountable not only by ballot but also the voices of the people anytime they deviate from the responsibility to serve.

 

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Dr. Daniel Kawuma (Pharm. D) is a Pharmacist currently practicing in the United States. Born and raised in Uganda before relocating to Norway and later the United States for Studies. Daniel has a passion for politics and is an advocate for education and healthcare reform, human rights and development in Africa.

Contact: Twitter: @kawuma  Website: http://kawumainc.blogspot.com/