Egypt’s day of terror has been brewing for a long time. 18 months ago, Mubarak’s regime suffered a mortal body blow on Egypt’s Day of Rage as millions poured onto the streets. Approximately two weeks later Mubarak had been swept from power by an alliance of convenience of ancien regime’s opponents, and a military presenting itself as a neutral arbiter and guarantor of stability. The problem then became one typical of the fall of authoritarian governments. They are brittle things, despite the varying levels of repression they meted out during their life time, but at the same time the whole apparatus of secret policemen and stupid brutality can temporarily keep a lid on the contradictions building up in a developing society. Following Mubarak’s overthrow there was less a carnival of the oppressed and more a maelstrom of political antagonism, looting and violence. It could not be otherwise. Continue reading
Tagged with Morsi
Egypt – why Morsi fell
Oh, hello again Mr ElBaradei. It’s been well over two years since I last wrote about Egypt. Since then, there’s been a lot of changes. But in a rather peculiar way, things are the same again. A heavy-handed and out-of-touch presidency is toppled by a de facto alliance of a millions-strong insurgency and the military, and once again the mercurial Mohamed ElBaradei prepared to act as an interim figure until things die down and elections are called.
The only difference between this time and last is, unlike ElBaradei and his military friends, his predecessor – the hapless Mohammed Morsi – actually had democratic credentials he could brag about. Oh, and that ElBaradei actually made it into the interim’s chair on this occasion.