The coup that brought down President Morsi also shattered the dreams of democracy of many Egyptians. Why did democracy fail in Egypt? The current situation was brought about as a result of a power struggle between the old guard and the new. Morsi wanted to extend his power into all areas of political life and the old guard, but many of those who held positions of power under former president Mubarak resisted being purged and having to relinquish their power (£). Morsi replaced members of the judiciary tied to the old system and some top army chiefs with younger officers who had fewer connections with the old regime.
The old guard reacted to this which, aided by mass protests, led to the coup which replaced Morsi. What are the chances for democracy in the future? The most likely scenario is that the army will organise new elections and the new civil authorities will be faced with the task of balancing the forces of old and new once again, and at the same time finding a way through all of the vested interests in order to run the country. But will the same problems be recycled leading to similar results?
Whichever political party wins a new election the old pattern may repeat itself. What about the needs of the rest of the population for democracy, human rights and economic development? The liberals are the ones who have the greatest commitment to these sorts of values, but don’t have enough support to win a general election.They can, however, serve as a catalyst for change by creating a wider constituency through argument and persuasion.
Experience is also an important teacher. People can see that the present system isn’t working. The cost of continued violence and economic stagnation is so great that people have begun to reassess the direction of the nation. A promising sign of change is that a youth movement within the Muslim Brotherhood has called for reform, tolerance, dialogue and respect for diversity. Some Brotherhood supporters and ex-supporters are cooperating with liberals to bring about these sorts of changes. If such a tendency develops further, mutual mistrust may gradually give way to tolerance and with it a greater chance for democracy to flourish through unity between Islamists and liberals and the swelling of the ranks of those who are committed to reform. In the words of Leonard Cohen ‘the cracks let in the light.’
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