By HOSEA NYAMLONG
Mohamed Morsay a leading figure in The Brotherhood’s, political movement became Egypt’s first democratically elected president in 2012. This development was just one year after the Arab Spring’s uprising which came with a new political ideology changing the monarchical and military system of governance in the entire Middle East.
The Arab Spring also led to the end of President Hosni Mubukak’s 30 year rule in Egypt, witnessing tens of thousands of protesters who flooded Tahrir square, demanding for the overthrownment of President Hosni Muburak’s regime characterized with dictatorial tendercies.
Egyptian’s revolution lasted for a year, from 2011-2012, during which the regime of President Hosni Mubarak witnessed violent clashes between the country’s security forces and protesters that resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured.
Mubarak’s crackeddown on the Islamist’s movement during his tenure saw Morsy imprisoned twice, a common fate for the Brotherhood’s leader. The public protest however brought a paradigm shift in the political ideology of Egyptian citizens for good. Consequently, the Egyptians decided to elect their first democratic president in 2012 by a popular choice, demonstrating that, democracy has come to stay in Egypt, the election was said to have been conducted under a free and fair environment, free from corruption and outright manipulation, since the founding of Egypt in 1952.
Unfortunately, President Morsy died after he collapsed in court during his trial and was buried at eastern Cairo. Morsy was facing at least six court charges and serving 20 years prison sentence for conviction arising from the killing of protesters during demonstrations in 2012. He was also serving a life sentence for espionage in Qatar. Similarly there were other charges against the former president including Jailbreak and instigating terrorism. Morsy supporters said, the charges unveiled against him were purely politically motivated.
Furthermore, in Novermber,2016, the court of Cassation scrapped, the life imprisonment sentence including that of 21 others who had received the death penalty and ordered for a re-trial.
Throughout his imprisonment Morsy was only allowed 3 visits from his family. Though the 67 year old Morsy, had been behind bars for nearly six years, and had a long history of health challenges, including diabetes, as well as liver and kidney disease, Human Rights Watch described Morsy’s death as terrible but entirely predictable citing government’s failure to allow him have access to adequate medical care, holding the government responsibility for his death over failure to provide him with adequate medical attention and basic prisoner rights.
Amnesty International also said, Egyptian government also bears responsibility for the death of the former president, amid pressing international demands for a fair and transparent investigations into the circumstances surrounding his final hours in court which became worrisome globally.
This means that no lesson has been learned in the first place. If one would asked, what went wrong with the democratic process in Egypt? As a matter of fact The Brotherhood were known for their violence conduct over the years, but again the Brotherhood which was formed in 1928, during the period of anti-colonialist anger and unrest, had some of its members engaged in assassination and other acts of political violence. They were tagged a bad group in Egypt, but when the wing of change took hold of the Arab world, including Egypt, the Brotherhood in 2012 sought to reassured the citizens of Egypt of a new dimension in the political future of Egyptians, with the promise to deliver dividends of democracy to Egyptians.
Nevertheless, Morsy became Egypt’s first popularly chosen president, unfortunately a group of retired 19 generals the country’s real rulers, it was said, Generals were indirectly ruling Egypt, commanding the affairs of the nation since 1952.
It was also said that, they allowed Mohamed Morsy to come into power to be used as their puppet to accomplish the work of the Supreme Council of the Armed Force (SCAF) that have been in control of power in Egypt for decades. Morsy was deposed in July, 2013 following mass protest and a military coup led by Egypt’s current President Abdel-Fattah el-sisi, after which Morsy was immediately arrested and detained.
The Brotherhood which has since been outlawed said that, the death of Morsy was a full-fledged murder of their political leader that came to transform the country. Morsy had defeated Ahmed Shafik, a retired air-force Commander and a former member of (SCAF) by 2% of the vote, but indirectly, the military got the credit with a claim that they have saved Egypt for good.
To this effect, Morsy’s presidency may also be of some advantage to ther military Junta by allowing the leading figure in The Brotherhood to win and they became the primary focus of blame, whenever there is a structural problem.
As a matter of fact, the military retired officers had set up a framework long ago in directing and controlling Egypt from behind the scene, through a relatively open series of political improvisations by taking advantage of the secular movement and The Brotherhood. Now that, the preferred candidate is on seat, President Abdel Fattah el-sisi, what is he doing to sustain democracy in Egypt? Despite the presence of democracy in Egypt, there are still violations of human rights of citizens and freedom of press is not guaranteed.
Democracy cannot thrive in such an environment that withholds the freedom of press. What makes democracy interesting is the fact that, human beings have the power and freedom to express their views, opinions etc to the effect of development that cut across the facet of life.
In the midst of polarized society of Egypt, the judiciary has always played an important role in Egypt, but since 2011’s revolution, following the events of 3rd July, 2013, when the Egyptian military ousted President Mohamed Morsy, the Judiciary has aligned itself with the new government in the fight against Muslim Brotherhood.
Judiciary became another polarizing institution in a country already deeply divided into the lines of political interests. The increasing number of deaths has drawn sharp criticisms from Human Right Organizations including former US President, Barack Obama and former UN Secretary- General, Ban Ki-moon.
Judges are convicting defendants without regard for fair trial standards. In the case of Mohamed Morsy, most members of the Muslim Brotherhood were given death sentences. The judiciary has filled up prisons with political opponents and activists.
There have been various reports over the years that Morsy had been mistreated in Jail, with activists and other people that were in their bad books imprisoned, those that were in their good books were freed.
However the Arab Spring is a blessing to the Middle East, which has exposed most of the hidden secrets of monarchical and military dictatorship over the decades.
