A military coup or people's will ?

As Egyptians succeeded to topple another dictator in 2 years, western media has been portraying it as a military coup. Here I want you to know what the Egyptians in the streets say about it. 

The Islamist regime was a fascist regime of terror which tried to demolish Egypt's identity, culture and even citizenship. The fuel crisis was the straw that broke the camel's back but not the main reason for the uprising.

The Islamists’ failures have been building up almost immediately after the election a year ago.  Before election Morsi met revolutionary people and made 10 commitments (including on human rights for women, youth and Copts). He did not fulfil any single one. The president and his clan focused on Ikhwanisation Egypt: enabling Moslem Brothers to control all state institutions even by sacking people and filling the top jobs by totally unqualified MB people. Although they talked about “the Islamic project”, they did not present any economic or political or social vision. Their idea of social justice, a main demand of the January 2011 revolution, was to use charity to help poor people! The list of failure is too long.

The road to 30^th of June started by few young men and women who distributed a simple form saying: Rebell/Tamaroud denouncing Morsi as a president. Soon ordinary people were asking for the form, photocopying it and getting neighbours, friends, and workmates to sign it. The process itself got people talking and sharing. There were strict ways to validate the forms.  The target was to get 15 million signature more than those who elected Morsi in the first place. In fact they got more than 22 million signatures.

The call was to get all the forms delivered to the president on the day marking his first year in office. As you may have seen in TVs, millions of Egyptians went out on the day-in fact few days before- and demonstrated in squares not only in Cairo but all over the country.

I used to think that people in my home town (so conservative and a base for Islamists) have to starve for a month before they demonstrate! I was amazed by the number and kind of people who were demonstrating and the fact that they closed the governor’s office!

People in the street and opposition and even some of the president’s supporters-who abandoned ship in front of the public outcry- asked him to call for an early election. Yet the president and his clan responded by mobilising their supporters (packing them in buses and giving them food and other incentives) to demonstrate in one square in Cairo. They also threatened with bloodshed and violence.

As the millions gathered (see Google Earth of Tahrir square on 30th of June), people urged the army to intervene and get Morsi out of office. Even those like me, who stood in front of the military HQ chanting down with the military, eventually, accepted that Morsi would never listen to the people. He was ready for blood to fill the streets but not to leave the office. It was clear that the army must intervene.

So it was the people who stripped the president from his legitimacy but they asked the army to implement the people’s will. The announcement was made by the head of the army after intensive consultation with civilian groups including some women. The announcement was made in presence of political and civilian representatives who spoke their agreement.

The new temporary president sworn to office today in front of the constitutional court. He will be responsible for preparing an early presidential election.

It seems that the US is happy to support a fascist regime that was demolishing Egypt identity, killing, imprisoning people, totally ignoring human rights,... as long as it listens to the US. Obama seems unhappy that  the Egyptian army did not listen to the US advice but instead the army decided to obey the people. 

Of course the road is still bumpy but I think both the revolutionists and the army learnt the lessons from last time the military ruled Egypt. Therefore, we are hopeful that we will get it right this time.

So please do not listen to western media. It is not a military coup.