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LIKE EVERY MILITARY regime in history, the recently installed junta in Egypt claims to have the support of the people. The mandate for overthrowing the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood government on 3 July rests on the claim of popular approval, but so far there is no verifiable evidence that this claim is true.
The pro-coup Tamarod movement says that 22 million Egyptians signed its petition calling on President Mohamed Morsi to step down while the figures cited for the pivotal 30 June demonstrations have fluctuated wildly from 8 million, 14 million, 20 million to the truly ludicrous 33 million.
There is no way to definitively count the number of people who took to the streets on that day or to prove that the petition numbers are genuine. This is why we have elections, because they are the most accurate way we have to discover the will of the people.
Unfortunately for the secularists who spearheaded the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, they kept failing at the ballot box following that historic event.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won 47 per cent of the seats in elections to Egypt’s lower house of parliament last year, while the even more extreme Nour Party won 25 per cent. They had similar landslide victories in elections to the upper house. This does not suggest a population that wants no role for religion in politics or wider society.
The 2012 Presidential election was a narrower affair. In the second round run-off FJP candidate Mohamed Morsi won with 52 per cent of the vote. A former Mubarak-era Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq received 48 per cent. The Brotherhood also won two referendums, including one which ratified the constitution.
The army has justified the coup by claiming that Morsi’s support among the public had collapsed since his election and that it was merely enforcing the popular will. According to a Pew opinion poll, carried out in March, Morsi had the most favourable rating (53 per cent) of the main party leaders. Two-thirds of the public had a favourable view of the Muslim Brotherhood, again the highest of the main political parties.
In the same poll 58 per cent of respondents said that the country’s laws should “strictly follow the teachings of the Koran” while another 28 per cent said that laws should follow the “values and teachings of the Koran”. This contradicts the narrative that Egyptians are revolting against the Muslim Brotherhood over allegations that it was ‘Islamising’ the country.
Incidentally the new military regime has already stated that Article 2 of the constitution will stay the same as it was under Morsi and Mubarak, an article that states that Islam is the official religion of Egypt and that Sharia law is the main source of legislation.
Two-thirds of respondents to the Pew poll backed the democratic process while 21 per cent said that “in some circumstances a non-democratic form of government can be preferable.” Another poll carried out for the pro-coup Arab American Institute in June showed that a majority of the public (56 per cent) rejected a “temporary military takeover” as a solution to the political crisis with 87 per cent backing “real national dialogue”.
Research done by Egyptian organisations has given conflicting results. A poll by the Islamist-linked Egyptian Centre for Media Studies and Public Opinion claims that 69 per cent of Egyptians oppose Morsi’s ouster while the separate Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion said the same number want the Muslim Brotherhood banned from politics.
Opinion polls in Egypt are notoriously inaccurate so the claims of the army and its supporters could indeed be true, but the only real way to test the public mood is to have free and fair elections. There is a problem for the military however, if the Muslim Brotherhood wins the elections this will show that their putsch and everything they have been doing since 3 July was completely illegitimate.
The coup leaders will obviously be very reluctant to let that happen so reports that they are considering either banning the Brotherhood or restricting the number of seats the FJP can win in the parliament, or even outlawing all parties with a religious platform, are no surprise. It also begs the question as to why such measures would be necessary if the Brotherhood’s support had collapsed.
Any system excluding religious parties that won 70 per cent of the vote at the parliamentary elections last year would be totally undemocratic and would shatter the claims by coup cheerleaders that the removal of Morsi is a “continuation of the revolution”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is undoubtedly a reactionary organisation which has engaged in sectarian hate-mongering and whose supporters have committed violence against the security forces, political opponents and the Christian minority.
It is also the most popular party in Egypt according to election results and little or no evidence has been presented of an imminent attempt by it to abolish the democratic system and install an Islamic theocracy. Justifications of the coup on this basis are therefore very similar to claims that democratic left-wing governments in Latin America had to be overthrown because they were about to create authoritarian communist regimes.
Meanwhile the new military regime is ruling like most military regimes, through repression and terror. They have suspended the democratically endorsed presidency, parliament and constitution. They have closed down critical media outlets and rounded up hundreds of opposition activists. Their media outlets are engaged in their own hate campaign, against the Brotherhood and its voters, while also promoting xenophobia and risible conspiracy theories (demonstrating that secularists can be just as irrational and fanatical as the religious).
The regime’s forces have killed over a thousand anti-coup protesters, the vast, vast majority of whom were unarmed. The non-Islamists cheered on as the army crushed the democratic rights of the Brotherhood and its supporters, but now, predictably, the regime is expanding its repression beyond the initial targets to secularists who object to its policies.
They face vilification as ‘traitors’ by the pro-junta media, as has happened to Mohamed El Baradei since he stepped down as Vice-President in protest as the Rabaah al-Adawiya massacre. He is now being sued in court for “betraying national trust”. Other secularists who speak out or campaign against the regime will face similar treatment.
The military see the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to its power base and have co-opted secularists as a public façade for a naked power grab. Together they are destroying democracy to save democracy.
Colm Ó Broin is a freelance journalist.
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Baffling how the Irish-Left sympathizes with Islamic Conservatives who support lighting gays on fire, stoning women to death, blowing up Jews in the name of “Allah”, imposing Sharia Law, etc. They Irish-Left are vicious when it comes to our so-called “conservatives” who would instantly be interpreted as liberals by the Muslim countries and even viewed as liberal by Eastern Europeans and many US Republicans. The German Army should have done what the Egyptian Army did when Hitler and his crew were democratically elected. There has to be a line drawn. I don’t sympathize at all with MB protestors. The irony crying about democracy while using the democratic process which got you in power to end democracy.
100% right Kevin. Well said. The only fools here are the ones banging their chests for the Islamists and “Palestine”.
How about you address his points instead of playing the man. Interestingly its you who looks like a fool. Fool.
Constructive contribution Adam…
What your witnessing is a counter revolution. I know the Irish left aren’t supporting Islamist or militarist coup governments. What’s really going on is the ruling class have decided they like things the way they where under Mubarak and with US backing and AiD they have stolen a revolution, by criminalising an elected government and killing its activists.
Tom Ha! Your hilarious, Yes the 30 million who took part in protests to oust the corrupt Islamist government were all “elitists”.
And YES the left is defending Islamists, Look at Boyd Barrett, Raymond Deane of IPSC, Socialist Workers Party and SIPTU’s Mags O’Brien ALL at the pro Morsi rally in Dublin
https://www.facebook.com/tigeress.eye/media_set?set=a.565646546836409.1073741832.100001732057139&type=1
Democracy and Islam are not compatible. A working democracy is judged upon how it treats it minorities and the Morsi regime’s record speaks for itself. Religion poisons everything; politics; sport; human rights. It divides people and justifies bigotry and hatred.
It is nothing short of revolting what religion demands from humanity people should wake up and stop defending this obscenity. Freedom of religion should be a basic human right but also freedom from religion should be respected, The Muslim Brotherhood clearly rejects this; ask the non-Muslims who tried to live under the Muslim brotherhood tyranny.
The politically correctness of this article is nothing short of vomit inducing.
That’s what I was thinking. Nauseating, oily,weasily article, defending the indefensible in the name PC .
This is the root of the problem.
You cannot vote to end democracy and take away someone else’s rights. Sharia based law in incompatible with basic human rights.
It’s a damned if you do (Muslim Brotherhood) and damned if you don’t (Military) scenario.
Religion is the root of this. It is intolerant; savage it promotes ignorance, division and bigotry.
Religious Apologists are hypocrites they demand respect for their bigotry and superstition yet they get offended by criticism.
Still a bit sore about that Joe I see
“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
– Thomas Paine, (1737-1809), The Age of Reason, pt. 1,
If the Muslim Brotherhood actually respected democracy then the military would have never ousted them. What has happened in Egypt proves that religion and politics do not go well and should always be kept apart.
Guns and tanks don’t go well with democracy too.
I had hoped the the democratic will that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power might moderate their position. I was heartened when I heard that Morsi ordered the Gaza smuggling tunnels filled with concrete, that they in no way were allied to Hamas. But the brutal overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood by the military only means they will never trust democracy again but may seek more violent means to attain power. It seems Egypt is back to where it was with Mubarak.
These “anti Imperialists”, LOL. Align themselves with the greatest imperialist movement ever known to man, The Islamic Caliphate. Which the Muslim Brotherhood openly wants to restore.
Be it Erdogan islamising Turkey or Hamas who were “elected” in typical Muslim Brotherhood style aka one election and then claim for 8 years without an election your still “democratic”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an enormous well financed organisation and with it’s EURO HQ here in Ireland we can be sure it has it’s grip on our government and journalists. Isn’t it obvious, our journalists refuse to openly write about the connection between the Halawa family and the MB and the Euro HQ of the MB in Clonskeagh Mosque.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate#Re-establishment_of_the_Caliphate
This Islamophobic bile very much mirrors the kind of vicious anti-Semitism European Jews faced in the 1930s. For shame..
Firstly, Since when did democracy begin and end with elections ?
Democracy is about freedom of press,freedom of religion,protection of woman and minorities. The Muslim Brotherhood were changing the constitution and the Egyptian people didn’t want that.That is anti democratic.
You really showed how you were here to promote your propaganda with the use of the word “junta”.
What is hilarious is Why is the Irish Anti War Movement part of the pro Morsi rallies ? Why is Raymond Deane of the IPSC and other members of the IPSC (Ireland Palestinian Solidarity Campaign) ,Mags O’Brien of SIPTU and Richard Boyd Barrett TD all taking part in pro Morsi,pro Muslim Brotherhood rallies outside the Egyptian Embassy ?? What a weird alliance ? Or is it really ? The European HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood is in Clonskeagh ,Do they make “donations” to RICH Boy Barrett and the IPSC and the IAWM ?
Here are the pics of them all at the pro Muslim Brotherhood rally.
Link is broken
Very good article. If you truly believe in the democratic process do you have to support a democratically elected government who’s beliefs and actions are in many ways totalitarian and you deeply disagree with? It also compromises the wests support of Israel, because for years Israel has been described as the only genuine democracy in the Middle East. For a few months there was a second which has now been overthrown by a military supplied with guns by the west.
Interesting article, but events in Egypt present a real dilemma.
Democracy doesn’t always get it right – I don’t normally subscribe to Godwin’s law but this might be a good time to remember that even Hitler was democratically elected.
True democracy is about respecting the views of the entire electorate and forming policies that accommodate everyone to as great an extent as possible, not just winning at the ballot box and taking it as carte blanche to do as you please regardless of the views of those who voted for AND against you – this would just make you an elected dictator.
If 51 foxes voted to eat 49 chickens this would be a democratic vote, but does it represent democracy as most people understand it?
In addition, it is arguable that religion and politics should never mix.
The next few months will be very interesting and revealing in Egypt…
Really ? You actually going to try and suggest the Muslim Brotherhood and the Israeli government are similar,
You have a huge poor population, highly religious and highly under educated with very little awareness with anything but what is said in the mosque or on tv. In such an environment bring a politicised, violent islamic group which is flashing its wealth to gain political gain and using religion to paint any political resistance from other parties as unbelievers (‘kafereen’, ‘haram’). Do you really think there is any democratic process has happened there? The egyptian revolution was not a religious revolution, but those who won the ballot were! What is the future of the 15% christian population in Egypt under such rule?? Who is going to protect them if the security forces will be controlled by those who don’t want them is this country?
Firstly, Since when did democracy begin and end with elections ?
Democracy is about freedom of press,freedom of religion,protection of woman and minorities. The Muslim Brotherhood were changing the constitution and the Egyptian people didn’t want that.That is anti democratic.
You really showed how you were here to promote your propaganda with the use of the word “junta”.
What is hilarious is Why is the Irish Anti War Movement part of the pro Morsi rallies ? Why is Raymond Deane of the IPSC and other members of the IPSC (Ireland Palestinian Solidarity Campaign) ,Mags O’Brien of SIPTU and Richard Boyd Barrett TD all taking part in pro Morsi,pro Muslim Brotherhood rallies outside the Egyptian Embassy ?? What a weird alliance ? Or is it really ? The European HQ of the Muslim Brotherhood is in Clonskeagh ,Do they make “donations” to RICH Boy Barrett and the IPSC and the IAWM ?
A well presented article. Sadly it highlights the central problem in that region of the world which is that democracy as we accept it in Western society simply does not work there. There are too many ideologies and religious extremes in existence incapable of accepting a straight majority rule.
Couple that with the vested interests of Western powers in oil and military supplies and you have the instability which haunts the Middle East.
Can I offer a humble opinion as to a solution? Absolutely not. There is no one easy solution to the problems of governance in those countries, however, one small step,would be for the bigger Western Powers to stop interfering in their affairs.
Interesting article and it’s good that it scrutinises the numbers the coup’s supporters claimed came out in support of it, as these figures were always going to be exagerrated.
I think one of the key factors about whether you believe the coup was justified or not comes down to which definition of democracy you accept. If you believe that democracy is only about the ballot box, then obviously the coup was illegitimate. However, if you believe that democracy doesn’t end at election day, and should enshrine wider rights and respect for minorities, than you would probably believe that overall the overthrow of Morsi was a good thing.
This comes back to the Pew polls, that Colm Ó Bróin mentioned in his piece. Interestingly, a recent Pew Research Centre found that the Egyptian Muslim public are considerably less tolerant of religious pluralism than Muslims elsewhere.
The analysis found that:
“Egypt is one of the few countries where a clear majority (74%) of sharia supporters say both Muslims and non-Muslims in their country should be subject to Islamic law.”
The study also found that:
“Egyptian Muslims also back criminalizing apostasy, or leaving Islam for another religion. An overwhelming majority of Egyptian Muslims (88%), say converting away from Islam should be punishable by death. Among the 37 countries where the question was asked, a median of 28% of Muslims say apostates should be subject to the death penalty.”
So could it be argued that the government of Morsi, by giving Sharia Law more of a central role in the governance of Egypt, was actually reflecting what the Egyptian people wanted? Herein lies the paradox: it would seem that democracy, purely defined as an expression of the people’s will, can’t coincide with the rights-based interpretation of democracy, when the people’s will is to trample all over the rights of others.
Egypts peasant population are very much like the Irish were a century ago. Poor uneducated and deeply devout. They believe that their Imams can do no wrong and what ever they say must be right because these are very “educated” men. (very much the same way we used to see the parish priest). During the Election those self same Imams told the peasants who to vote for because it easy the peasants “right” thing to do. Now the fact that the MB were pouring money into building new mosques up and down the country I am sure had an impact on a devout population.
This is a good article, however we will never know what would have happened at the next election if the MB did not win, would they cede power? I doubt it very much. Michael Jansen has had some good stuff in the Irish times on their world view.
There probably would not have been a “next election” Michael.
Sorry – Denis.
Absolutely right. One man, one vote, one time. That’s the Islamist agenda.
Yer man on that poster looks like Gerry Adams!
Democracy demonstration of craziness
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