Who Rules Egypt? Is Mursi Truly In Charge In Post-revolutionary Egypt?
08 January 2013By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
Neither imams nor members of the Muslim Brotherhood
and Salafist movements will be able to protect the
Egyptian presidency from the anger of the people when
the banks decrease Egypt's currency exchange rate
compared to the dollar. Every single citizen will pay
a dear price for this, not just the protesters in
Tahrir Square, the Nasserites or the Copts. At this
point, neither the International Monetary Fund [IMF]
loan nor aid from Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be of
any use. The only solution is for the regime to
restore relations with its opposition and try to reach
a broad-ranging reconciliation that includes all
factions. Following this, they will be able to
confront future crises together.
However before this can be achieved we must recognize
that the Egyptian political scene has become extremely
puzzling. President Mursi slams the opposition in
every possible manner then appears on CNN to say that
he believes in democracy. Following this, Egyptian
Defense Minister, General Abdul Fatah Khalil Al-Sisi,
headed to Sinai to meet with the Bedouins there
wearing a traditional cloak over his khaki uniform.
Prime Minister Hisham Qandil received an IMF official,
attempting to talk him into approving a
five-billion-dollar loan to Egypt after imposing a set
of socialist laws that ban Egyptians from travelling
abroad with more than $10,000 and tourists from
entering the country with the same amount.
The Egyptian intelligence chief visited the UAE in an
attempt to resolve the problems that have arisen
following the arrest of an "Egyptian Muslim
Brotherhood cell", with fears growing that the
Brotherhood want to export its movement into the Gulf
region in precisely the same manner that Iran sought
to export its Islamic revolution.
As for Essam el-Erian, the Muslim Brotherhood's most
famous media figure, he dropped a bomb that distracted
the people from both the constitution and the
referendum, calling for the return of Egypt's Jewish
community "who were unjustly expelled by late
President Gamal Abdel Nasser." Whilst at the same time
that he is calling for the return of 250,000 Jews to
Egypt, the Egyptian armed forces arrested a single
Israeli who had sneaked across the border!
Who is ruling Egypt? In the past, they said that
Mubarak's wife and son were interfering in the
presidency's decisions. Now, they are saying that the
Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide and his deputy
decide what happens and even have the power to cancel
the president's decrees. This was reportedly
demonstrated when Mursi's statement greeting Egypt's
Coptic community was withdrawn from the official news
agency just one hour following its publication.
Rumours claim that Egypt is ruled by a triumvirate,
namely the President, the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme
Guide and "the investor". The Muslim Brotherhood's
Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie, is similar to his
Iranian counterpart in the sense that he has the final
say and issues weekly statements that are no different
than those issued in Tehran, namely putting forward
his view and attacking those who oppose the
government. As for the second member of this
partnership, it is claimed that this is none other
than well-known Egyptian businessman and deputy Muslim
Brotherhood Supreme Guide Khairat el-Shater. Many
people believe that el-Shater is the real ruler, and
that he was responsible for selecting both Egypt's
cabinets. Whilst we all know that he was the Muslim
Brotherhood's original presidential candidate but the
courts banned him from taking part in the elections
due to his criminal record. Some have even accused him
of running the Brotherhood's cells abroad including
those in the Gulf. Since the Brotherhood, the ruling
party and indeed the presidency are working in secret
it is difficult to tell truth from fiction.
The long silence of the Egyptian Armed Forces have
given the impression that they have either been
hibernating or been hampered by the Muslim
Brotherhood. However, the recent public dispute that
took place between the military and the Supreme Guide
a few weeks ago, not to mention the Defense Minister's
visit to the Sinai Peninsula, have given the
impression that the army is like a tiger that sleeps
with one eye open.
It is clear that Egypt is now witnessing a fierce
battle between different powers, both within and
outside of government. This is what happened after the
1952 revolution in addition to when Sadat came to
power following Nasser's death. However the situation
is very different now because this power struggle is
no longer confined to the presidential palace. Some
argue that diversity in the country's centers of power
represents one of the key features of democracy. This
is true, however the problem is that many of these
struggles are now taking place outside a democratic
framework, whether we are talking about the
presidency, the legislature, the judiciary or even the
media.
Members of the elite are not the only ones who are
worried, and this anxiety has extended to average
Egyptians who can see the impact of a weakening
currency and a crippled economy on their daily lives.
The average citizen is an influential power in Egypt,
whilst money sent back to the country by Egyptians
abroad constitutes one third of the country's revenue,
exceeding the revenues generated by industry,
agriculture, and the Suez Canal. When these Egyptians
who left their families to work day and night in
foreign countries see their earnings losing value,
they will either stop transferring money back to Egypt
or stop dealing in the Egyptian pound. At this point,
attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to reassure the
people would be completely futile, as would their
attempts at following the Iranian example and
excluding their opponents. There may come a difficult
time when the Brotherhood find themselves being
pursued by the Egyptian general public.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai.
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