Morsi Ouster Positive for Egypt

By now we are all used to developments in predominantly Muslim countries. The Arab Spring has initiated a series of uprisings, but not for the better. I am sitting in my office stifling through report after report and how the problems in the Muslim world impact our business there. It is hard to commit investments to countries where the leadership changes frequently and by unnatural means.

There are plenty of countries who do require ample investment and we are not objected to it by any means, but the political risks pose a challenge. Egypt is a prime example; the Arab Spring caused a change in leadership and the election of Islamist Morsi who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Politics and religion should never be mixed and Morsi was a clear failure and evident sign how the Arab Spring in 2011 did ring in an era of negative change.

The Egyptian military watched for over one year how Morsi mishandled the country they vowed to protect and this time Egypt needed protection from the President they elected. Last Wednesday Morsi was ousted by the military after given a 48 hour ultimatum to handle the violent protests and mismanagement of Egypt. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood where nothing but talk and gave other Islamist groups such as Hamas, which is a globally recognized terrorist organization, a platform for cooperation.

Egypt suffered under the Morsi rule and the military could not stand to watch anymore or wait for next election. After the ouster of Morsi the Egyptian military made clear it had no intentions to rule the country and nominated Adli Mansour as interim President and since July 5^th more than 1,000 were injured while 36 deaths have been reported as Islamists crashed with security forces as well as Morsi opponents.

The fast the Morsi and his Islamist Brotherhood is affiliated with Hamas makes the Islamist Brotherhood a terrible choice to govern Egypt. Having said that it will be a crucial mistake to hold elections without allowing the extremists and their political wing to be present in order to illustrate a democratic process in which Egyptians have the chance to defeat the Islamists in elections. A full exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in the electoral process would drive the extremist underground and breed a new generation of terrorists.

Elections should commence as soon as possible and the Muslim Brotherhood should be allowed to have their candidate on the ballot. The hope is that Egyptian voters will defeat the extremists by political means and as history shows that if extremists are elected the military is there to protect the country and oust them if necessary.

In a very positive step for Egypt, interim President Mansour held talks with Dr. ElBaradei who is a pro-reformer and used to be head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency. He is the best choice for Egypt out of all available candidates and he will at least try to reform the country and create positive change. As talks are ongoing Mansour’s administration has started to replace Morsi picked individual at key political posts which delivered another blow to the extremists. 

Posted in: Egypt, ElBaradei, elections, extremists, Mansour, Morsi, Muslim