Photo by Gigi Ibrahim courtesy of Creative Commons.
Rebeca Piccardo/Staff writer
Egypt’s military forced Mohamed Morsi to step down from his position on July 3, placing the president on house arrest along with members of the Muslim Brotherhood after a series of anti-Morsi demonstrations and a 48 hour ultimatum to order reformers and concessions to the opposition.
University professors and students responded to these events with mixed feelings.
“Undoubtedly, the events of the last week have hurt the concept of Egyptian democracy for many Egyptians, particularly those who voted and still back President Morsi,” said Reza Sanati, professor and graduate fellow at the Middle East Studies Center.
In a television announcement on Wednesday, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi announced that the military has suspended the constitution has called for new elections.
“Many of his supporters do not accept the notion that Morsi was ‘abusing his power,’ while those opposing him do hold that view,” said Sanati.
According to Sanati, what happened in Egypt was a military coup.
The military set up a provisional government, in which Adly Mansour, the chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in as the new president on Thursday live on television.
A date for the new elections has not been set yet.
“It is important that the new interim government reaches out to the Muslim Brotherhood and incorporate it into new elections and the rewriting of the constitution,” said professor Russell Lucas, associate professor of Arab Studies in Michigan State University and former FIU faculty member.
Three of the six appointees that Mansour announced on Sunday were from the military.
“The military responding to popular demonstrations calling for Morsi to step down sets a dangerous precedent and it will make the consolidation of democracy more difficult in Egypt,” said Lucas.
This is the second time the military has forced a president out of office in the past two years.
According to Sanati, the military intervention in Egyptian politics will invariably add a new element to the post-Mubarak Egypt.
“Many analysts and academics, collectively with Egyptian society, thought that in the post-Mubarak era, the politics of the country would be decided by the ballot box,” said Sanati. “This move by the military was clearly in direct contravention of that.”
After Mubarak was forced out of office, the military directly governed for about a year and half before Morsi was elected.
El-Sissi said that Morsi had declared himself exempt from judicial oversight in November, which triggered demonstrations and military efforts to reconcile the president with the opposition.
“Only time will tell if the Egyptian Armed Forces did the right thing in stopping a leader that was growing unpopular and was allied to groups that certainly did not represent the best interests of all Egyptians,” said Raul Herrera, a junior and political science major.
Although Morsi won the 2012 election, “his approval ratings have plummeted as his government has failed to keep order or revive Egypt’s economy,” according to Herrera.
Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood “clearly took steps to enhance the power of the executive and helped push legislation and new societal norms that clearly many in the opposition found offensive,” said Sanati.
Police arrested crews from the Brotherhood television channel and other Islamist channels after Wednesday’s announcement.
“The violence used against the supporters of the Brotherhood so far is likely to make the situation all the more perilous,” said Lucas.
In the demonstrations, there have been clashes between the protests by Morsi supporters and the anti-Morsi demonstrations.
“Morsi was democratically elected and the fact that he left office by the force of the military will undoubtedly cause many of his supporters to entertain the logic of using violence,” said Sanati.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Gehad El-Haddad, said that Morsi is under house arrest at the presidential Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo, along with members of his presidential staff.
There have been demonstrations every day since June 30, some of which have resulted in violence, with 51 dead and 435 injured, according to Egypt’s Health Ministry.
“International organizations should definitely intervene in the realm of charity and humanitarian aid if necessary but other countries should stay out of the issues militarily,” said Herrera.
According to Herrera, the US should avoid damaging relations with Egypt by taking sides.
“At the same time, the United States, as well as other world powers, should keep an eye on developments,” said Herrera.
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