Sunday, July 28, 2013

Egypt, back to the future: Scoring points, making none

Egyptians need to provide an answer on what kind of change they want.


A Good Piece
By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera


"In summary, Egypt has much on its plate and no one party, let alone one leader or a general would be able to even begin to tackle its urgent challenges," writes Marwan Bishara [Reuters]

"Awaiting history's judgment of Defence Minister Abdel Fattah El Sisi, his call for street demonstrations to support his fight against "violence and terror", is outrageous, though not terribly surprising.
Faced with mounting outcry from the Brotherhood's rank and file against the ousting of President Morsi, the general has continued to escalate his ultimatums and the use of force to quell cries for the return of the elected president.
Indeed, one wonders how Sisi, who's a deputy prime minister, makes such a bombastic declaration that calls for major escalation as if there is no prime minister or a president!

As the man in charge of Egypt's safety and stability, tasked with containing violence in the public sphere, Sisi seemed all too eager to amplify tensions and confrontations to protect his turf.......

If the Brotherhood failed on a number of important fronts and President Morsi showed little leadership on economic and social issues, General Sisi is acting quite irresponsibly. Besides, the military's record on good governance and the economy is dismal to say the least.
In fact, none among Egypt's leaders, generals, and religious symbols to this day have proven capable of lifting the country out of deadlock. Those capable of leading have no answers, and those with answers are not leading. Indeed, the louder and the more self-righteous they are, the less constructive the leaders seem to be......."

No comments: