The Morsi Maneuver Part 2: Tahrir revolts against massive power grab

Marchers arrive in Tahrir to protest the Constitution

Dear readers, 

I have been watching the unfolding events in the past days with some trepidation, but not that much surprise. 

Morsi  has issued a sweeping decree on November 22, 2012 expanding his powers.  Opponents are furious, arguing that his declaration has made all his decisions immune to judicial review and banned the courts from dissolving the upper house of parliament and an assembly writing the new constitution, both of which are dominated by Islamists. The decree also gave Morsi sweeping authority to stop any ‘‘threats’’ to the revolution, public order or state institutions. The powers would last until the constitution is approved and parliamentary elections are held, not likely before spring 2013.  Egyptians Protest Morsi (Boston Globe)

His supporters argue that he is protecting the Revolution  Morsi has split Egypt down the middle (BBC)   According to the BBC, his supporters state that he merely took unchecked power away from the judiciary - which is still full of personalities from the Mubarak era - until the constitution is done and there are systems in place to allow the country to move forward.

Of course, when Morsi was elected, many people feared that exactly such a power grab would happen. Morsi is a complicated character. On the one hand, he was educated in America, and even taught at Cal State Northridge and is quite learned. On the other hand, he was a member of the Guidance Office of the Muslim Brotherhood before that organization became legal after the Revolution.  Times Interview with Mohamed Morsi. Unfortunately, his rhetoric, that he wants a civil, constitutional state, is not in line with his current actions.

The crazy thing is that it is not even Friday, and all hell has broken out in Tahrir. The most astute analysis I have heard comes from my old boss at AUC Dr. J--- B----. She says that 

"At this point, almost any scenario could be built. Morsi may realize he has to prove himself and show the courage to confront his own side and rebalance the constituent assembly, in which case he could pull if off if he demands unanimity or a super-majority on every provision, to force them to reach consensus or take it out. 

Conversely, the MB could militarize and we could have green shirts jack-stepping around Tahrir. 

Or we could have massive unrest and economic collapse.

Or the military could come back if things get dicey. 

He has really painted himself into a corner. We'll have to wait and see if he knows something we don't -- about the Gaza situation or the IMF, or whatever -- but he risks having all hell break loose if there are any more unpleasant surprises.  Word is MB HQs in 7 governorates all over the country were burnt.  One of the students also told me that the police and the army were shooting at each other at the head of Road 90 last week."

My analysis is that if Morsi knows something we do not, he needs to convey it to the left, to regain their trust. He has shown strength and statesmanlike behavior toward the conflict in Gaza,  Talks begin in Cairo after Gaza Cease Fire (NYT) and in relations with Iran, but his inability to manage the domestic front in his own country could neutralize Egypt's effectiveness as a foreign affairs powerhouse.   

Most worrisome is Morsi's attempt to maintain the work of the Constituent Assembly. As I have noted in previous posts, from day one, the Constituent Assembly has been heavily Islamist. With only 7 women on the Assembly to begin with, the Assembly clearly did not represent the interests of a majority of Egyptians. I noted my discomfort with the opposition parties and the Christian parties pulling out. Strategically, they should have stayed in and fought for a better CA. Nonetheless, if Morsi has his way, the current CA, which is even more Islamist now than when it was initially convened, will be in charge of a new constitution that certainly does not reflect the secular, mult-religious, modern nation of the Egypt we know and love. 

This blog is called Democratizing the New Egypt.  Morsi's behavior is not democratic, and is made even worse by the fact that there is no parliament currently sitting. It is true that the judiciary needs reform, and feloul in the judiciary need to be routed, but concentrating all of the nation's power in the executive is not the correct tactic. 

There is a silver lining to all of this: my beloved secular opposition is getting its second wind. As reported by the Egypt Independent, 

For almost two years, civil and secular groups were constantly blamed for being disunited and unorganized, paving the way for Islamists to rise to power after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

That changed this week as opposition leaders, former presidential candidates, secular liberal and leftist parties, and even some figures previously labeled as feloul — or remnants of the former regime — united against President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration, through which he claimed sweeping powers for himself, and formed the National Salvation Front.  Civil Groups Pounce Into Public Space (EI)

As one protester quoted by the BBC (article above) pointed out, “It's unfortunate that my demands are still same - bread, freedom and social justice. If Morsi doesn't get it, well, we have seen this movie before and all know where this is going to end.”

Credits: Huge thanks to my awesome graduate assistant Jillian Underwood for assisting with research and keeping me organized!

Troubles with the Egyptian Constituent Assembly

Friday of Islamic Sharia in Tahrir Square. Photo Credit Al Masry Al Youm.

The Constituent Assembly is the somewhat difficult name for the group of Egyptians tasked with writing the Constitution for this emergent democracy.

On Sunday, several leftist and liberal members withdrew from the Constituent Assembly. Further, Coptic Orthodox Pope Bishop Pachomius announced the withdrawal of three Christian members from the CA on Saturday. I am of two minds about this. First, I can see that maybe some of them feel they are participating in a fundamentally flawed process. Principles aside, they risk handing the task over to conservative Islamists, which will result in a document not widely accepted by the entire Egyptian population, particularly the educated population.

Salafis in the CA wanted to replace the idea of "Sharia principles" with the idea of "Sharia provisions," which would leave less open to interpretation in the Constitution, and might usher in a Sunni theocracy of sorts.

Christians and liberals are protesting what they see as an "Islamic" Constitution.  They are also concerned about the far reaching powers granted to the Executive by the Constitutional draft. Further, there is concern that the way the draft is currently written, it would preclude a civil state. The Church has said that the withdrawal of the Christian members of the CA is final.

~WMB

Egypt's Minorities

Bedouins in Alexandria. Photo Credit T.H. McAllister.

Dear readers

Not very much attention is given to the "other" in examinations of Egypt. Of course, we have found out in the past year that women, although they are 50% of the population, are treated like the other in Egypt.

But there are other groups that deserve attention. I am particularly concerned that at least some of these groups receive proper representation in the upcoming efforts to design Egypt's new constitution.

Under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, most European groups left, fled or were driven out. Egypt used to have a sizeable Greek, and Jewish population, particularly in Alexandria,but they are mostly gone. One can see beautiful, yet empty, shuttered and locked synagogues in Old Cairo and in Old Alexandria. There is some Jewish population in Egypt, but it is incredibly small, and hard to measure, due to the intense anti-zionist sentiment here. The American-Israeli cooperative Enterprise estimates their numbers at less than 100 in 2004.

Another group we do not hear much about are the Baha'i. The Bahai are a religious group who recognize Bahaullah as their prophet. They have a very nice message about the unity of humankind. However, they are fiercely oppressed in Egypt. They are not allowed to have ID cards showing their religion. (Although I think the fact that ID cards show your religion is a bad one in principle.) The only religions you are allowed to list on your IDs include Jewish, Islam and Christianity. As a result, many Bahai have difficulty getting birth certificates, passports, and other crucial documents. They are routinely discriminated against and stigmatized. They probably number around 5000, or less.

I have devoted many pages to the persecution of Copts and other Christians. Approximately 9 percent of the Egyptian population are Coptic Christians. Coptic Christians are one the oldest groups in Egypt. The Pharaonic temples have evidence of Church activity in them. At one point, far before the advent of Islam, all of Egypt was officially Christian. The holy family is said to have sojourned through Egypt, and several monasteries throughout Cairo, Upper Egypt, and the Sinai attest to this.

There is significant discrimination against Copts. People are discriminated against in employment, and being a Christian may be a bar to promotion in majority settings.  Churches can only be built with permits, which must be applied for from the government. Recent clashes in Imbaba and Maspero have been touched off in part around conflict regarding Church building. Here are some materials regarding Copts and Maspero.  Further, marriage between Christian men and Muslim women is forbidden, and can touch off violence in rural areas. In the ongoing election, people have campaigned against the Kotla by saying that it is the "Christian party." One of the most poignant moments I have experienced in Egypt was when I tried to comfort one of my colleagues after the Maspero Massacre, and she burst into tears, as did then I, as we embraced.

The Egyptian majority also do not like Shia Muslims very much. Regardless of the size of these small religious communities, their protection requires a secular state that ensures religious protection for minorities.

I have fallen in love with the Nubian people during my time in Egypt. They have their own language, and a distinct architecture and culture. There land was largely submerged when Lake Nasser was created as part of the Aswan Dam. They were relocated to villages. The novel Dongola, and another book, The Nubian Women of West Aswan, give some insight into their plight.  Please look at my page on Books@Egypt  for more details. One of the most beautiful and scenic things I have seen during my time in Egypt was a cute Nubian village along the Nile in Aswan. Although the Nubian dynasty of the Pharaos was one of the most successful Egypt has ever seen, the plight of the Nubian people currently reminds me of the plight of the Native Americans in the United States.

I also am concerned that the Siwans, the Bedouins, and other indigenous tribal people have a say in the upcoming Egyptian constitutional process.

~WMB

Reformer from Muslim Brotherhood: Talk by Dr. Abdel Moneim Abol Fottoh

Dear Readers, I attended a talk by Dr. Abol Fottoh today. There was no simultaneous translation. A student translated for me. So this is not verbatim, but gives you a good gist of what was said. It was a very long talk, so this is just an excerpt. Dr. Abol Fottoh is known as a reformist within the Muslim Brotherhood. He has resigned from that party, and is planning to start his own party, known as Egypt's Renaissance. For more about him, read here . WMB

"Islam provides general laws, not specific ones. Egypt needs freedom for everyone. We should not force people to obey Islam. We give them advice. We would not do like Gulf Countries when they force people to wear the veil. This is against freedom."

"Islam provides general rules. The government should represent the majority of the people and do what they want. They underestimated Al Azhar {editors note, Al Azhar is an educational institute in Egypt. It was founded in 970 A.D. It is the chief Centre for Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic Learning.  The University's mission includes the propagation of Islamic Culture and Religion} They did not give it its proper position. It could act as a ministry that shows whether someone is following Islam. Those who think people are religious extremists should try to balance them, bring them to reason, not judge them or punish them."

"El Azhar is also a place where they educate people. Someone wanted to study music. Dr. Fottoh says that is fine. It is nice and acceptable. Music is art. If it is classy, music is fine. {Some Muslims think Music is forbidden} Just do not abuse the music. Do not play innappropriate music. Do not play innappropriate songs that are meaningless." [Fottoh does not say he would ban this bad music, but he is against it] "The main purpose of art and literature is to enrich the human soul. But art these days is meaningless and useless."

[Fottoh would not order all women to wear the veil, but he would advise them to do so] "But, I will not ask all girls to wear the veil. France should not ban hijab. People have a right to wear hijab. But Iran should also not make people wear hijab, people have a right not to wear it."

"The Turkish model is secular, but it is not against religion. It does not prevent people from being religious. Being secular is about freedom. They [probably referring to recent SCAF ban on religious parties] cannot ban religion."

"Parliament originally comes from society. It represents society. We can argue in Parliament about a social issue like homosexuality. They would not agree on something against society. They would not accept it. It is not acceptable in society to have homosexuality, it is taboo. So, in the Parliament they cannot accept it."

"Will the Muslim Brotherhood be participating in politics? There are different groups, Salafists, sunnis. All Muslims have the same Muslim thought. Forcing people in the name or religion is not allowed. All of Egypt should represent itself, not a certain group or party. There are over 200 political parties right now {They are incredibly weak}. Eventually, there will be three or four who dominate. A certain party will be in charge until then. There are extreme religious people in Egypt. They want that Sharia laws will be applied. It is in human nature that people will be divided by religion, politics, gender. We should accept different points of view. This will make society stronger. Variety will make us stronger. We need competition in a good way.  Al-Ikhwān [Muslim Brotherhood] is not a political party. It is an Islamic Movement that demands improvements to the country. Any Islamic movement is not concerned about politics."

"We only had a few weeks to decide whether to change the Constitution. It is not the Army's job to rule the country. The change in the Constitution should have taken more time.  Perhpas two years, to choose what changes to make or not make. The previous system considered Al-Ikhwān a competitor. In the previous system, I wanted to compete with honest and fair people, not corrupted ones. We were only allowed to vote yes or no on the Constitution. Neither yes or no meant radical changes. This vote was not reasonable. We should have been allowed to ask for a totally new Constitution."

"Q: Why is there a crisis of trust between the people and Al-Ikhwān? A: Movements are from the people. A percentage does not agree with what the Brotherhood thinks. That does not mean that all of Egypt is against the movement. In 1984 the Brotherhood entered the parliamentary elections. Some of the Brotherhood saw corruption, and did not want to be part of a corrupt system."