Is Egypt headed for another revolution?
President Mohamed Morsi faces his biggest challenge yet as violent protests spread in the days following the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak
Egypt has been rocked by five days of rioting that has killed at least 52 people, and the violence has only spread since the country's Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, declared a state of emergency and imposed an overnight curfew. Morsi's political opponents, still fuming over how he rammed through a constitution written by his Islamist allies, rejected his call for a national dialogue to end the demonstrations, which erupted after a court sentenced 21 people to death for involvement in a deadly soccer riot in Port Said last year. On Tuesday, the head of the country's armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, warned that the chaos would lead to the "collapse of the state" unless Egypt's rival political factions could agree to work together.
The turmoil began just as the country was marking the second anniversary of the uprising that eventually toppled the regime of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Is a revolution now going to sweep aside Morsi, too?
This violence definitely represents the "greatest popular challenge" Morsi has faced, says Ashraf Khalil at TIME. "The first martyrs in the January 2011 revolt against Hosni Mubarak" were from the same three cities on the Suez Canal — Port Said, Suez, and Ismailia — that started this latest wave of protests. "Their blood fed a nationwide cry for vengeance," and the longer the turmoil continues this time around, the greater the possibility that it will mushroom into something Morsi can't handle. Khalil continues:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Well, there's no need for Morsi to pack his bags any time soon, according to DinEzzat at Egypt's Al-Ahram. The president "remains confident that he has the indispensable support of Washington and the Egyptian armed forces — largely if not fully."
Still, Morsi has made some major missteps, according to Juan Cole at Informed Comment. The biggest may have been invoking the emergency law of 1981. Egyptians had only recently forced their military and elites to revoke the law. "Some Egyptians fear that invoking emergency laws risks returning to dictatorship," so naturally they're angry. Morsi himself called the emergency law, which curtails civil liberties, dictatorial before he was elected last summer.
And the recent violence has certainly looked, at times, "like a slow-motion repeat of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak two years ago: the marches, the gas, the shouted demands to topple the regime," says The Economist. Morsi's "miscalculated response" was also familiar. "The riots have revealed worrying signs of a state that is both absent and untrusted by the people. Two years of transition and seven months of Brotherhood administration have failed to restore a sense of accountability." Protesters want Morsi to go. The opposition, however, is threatening to boycott elections unless Morsi meets some of their demands concerning a future political transition. How will this end? For now, The Economist says, "who will lead Egypt out of its current crisis is unclear."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Today's political cartoons - October 13, 2024
Sunday's cartoons - the swing of things, fear of facts, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 timely cartoons about climate change denial
Cartoons Artists take on textbook trouble, bizarre beliefs, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kris Kristofferson: the free-spirited country music star who studied at Oxford
In the Spotlight The songwriter, singer and film-star has died aged 88
By The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published