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By Issa Chomani:
After the continuation of demonstrations and revolution in Egypt’s streets for one year against Mohammad Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the first democratic election for the presidency was held on 23 and 24 May 2012.
The election was between many candidates, but the two strongest were Ahmed Shafik, the final prime minister of Mubarak’s cabinet, and the Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohammad Morsi.
23 candidates officially registered their names. On 14 April 2012, the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission announced the disqualification of ten candidates. In the first round, none of the remaining 13 candidates could get enough votes to win outright. But Morsi got 5,690,653 and Shafik got 5,362,828 votes.
In the second round, the contest was between Morsi and Shafik.
The Muslim Brotherhood warned the US and European countries about accepting the results of the election. On 24 June 2012, Egypt’s election commission announced that the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi had won Egypt’s presidential run-off. The commission said Morsi had got 13,230,131,which was 51.7% of the vote, versus 12,347,380, which was 48.3% for Shafik.
After the revolution, known as the Arab Spring, Mohammad Morsi became the first democratic and legal president of the Egyptian state. His party, with some other parties, formed a cabinet. For many Egyptians, a hope was born to liberate them from dictatorship and hunger because more than 30% of Egypt’s population live below the poverty line.
In the same year, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi declared a constitution. In a referendum, it got 68% support. So it became the fundamental law of the country.
Mohammad Morsi, as the first legal president, stayed in power for no more than one year although the period of presidency for one term is meant to be four years.
The military carried out a coup on 3 July 2013. General Abdul Fatah Sisi deposed President Mohammad Morsi and suspended the Egyptian constitution. The military chief deposed the elected President and his ministers. At the same time, Sisi recommended Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood accused the military and the some of the Gulf countries of being involved in removing Morsi and their party and they labelled this as a clandestine coup against legitimacy.
Saudi Arabia was the first country that congratulated the new president. Soon, Saudi, the UAE and Kuwait sent their support for the new government, while none of the Arab countries condemned the coup except Tunisia.
The Turkish Government announced that Turkey doesn’t recognise Adly Mansour as the new president. Receb Taiyb Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, lamented the action and said, “Morsi is the only elected and legal president, we will not deal with someone who has come to power by coup d’état”.
A White House spokesperson voiced US concerns over the current situation of Egypt but did not describe it as a coup.
The pro-Morsi demonsrations have continued, calling for him to be released and returned to power.
The Muslim Brotherhood continuously criticises the US and European countries for their silence about the coup and Morsi’s detention.
Issa Hassan is a student at the University of Kurdistan-Hawler.
Copyright © 2013 Kurdistantribune.com
