Editorial: Egyptian disappointments at boiling point

Photo: Reuters/ScanPix

Violence triggered by the dismantling of former president Mohamed Morsi supporter camps now envelops Egypt for five days running, having claimed at least 750 lives. The night and the morning to come will mean more blood spilt, it is to be feared – with the Islamists continuing their calls for protests.

Last night, an emergency meeting was held by the Egyptian government, hardly offering any hopes for quieting the situation – had the cabinet any ability to act, the wave of violence would not have lasted for days on end. In addition to that, the government is weighing a ban on the Moslem Brotherhood; even so, resolute measures will no longer cool the heat of the situation. Rather, the opposite will be the case.

On the capitals of the world, worry runs high, of course, concerning what is up in Egypt – this being the largest Arabian country; the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria having turned into an example of the impotence of the international community at halting bloodshed in a country. This has become a small world indeed. A repeat of the Syrian scenario in Egypt – a threat all too real – would destabilise the entire region, and lead to security threats and a fresh influx of refugees into Europe.

Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, rising to power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, was a disappointment. As pointed out by many an analyst, in Mr Morsi’s view the solution to any problem lay in loans and prayer alone. Egypt was on a definite course of islamisation and the removal of Mr Morsi, at the beginning of July, could at the time be viewed as an attempt by the army and the opposition to return to the point where Mubarak was no more and Morsi had not yet appeared.

Now, that attempt has failed – this also being a disappointment. For the more liberal camp, vice president Mohamed ElBaradei’s resignation on Wednesday constituted a highly critical signal towards the interim government plans. On the one hand, the interim government was unable to convince the Morsi supporters. On the other hand, the Moslem Brotherhood is still in denial of its defeat and stokes up tensions, callings its backers to protest even with the emergency situation declared by the government. It feels that with both sides unable or unwilling to make concessions leading to negotiations. Political steps to the tune of «what won’t bend breaks» have often proven the prologue of civil wars.

The Egyptian interim government is in a very tight spot. There is no reason to see Moslem Brotherhood as a flagship of Egyptian democracy, Mr Morsi’s brief stunt being ample proof. At the same time, even the Islamists carry a certain amount of weight in the Egyptian society, having their supporters and political ambitions. By crudely suppressing the brotherhood, these past days, the government has shown itself to be clumsy; also, it is reminding the nation of the Mubarak-era intolerance, which only serves to unite the Islamist supporters closer together.