Ayoon Wa Azan (Congratulations to the people of Egypt)

Congratulations to the people of Egypt. Congratulations to us all. The above would have been my response to a question asked to me by the host of an Egyptian television show on Wednesday night, about what my choice would be for the front-page headline in my newspaper if I were asked to write it. On Wednesday morning, I wrote favoring an intervention by the army, fearing large-scale violence, in order for the military to quell any forerunners of a civil war. The day had barely ended when the Egyptian armed forces were issuing a historic decision, which I consider to be a triumph for the Egyptian people as important as any military victory. Egypt would have been heading for the precipice were it not for the intervention of the armed forces to protect the people. To be sure, the Muslim Brotherhood-led regime has failed on every conceivable level, albeit its economic and security failures were the clearest. Instead, the Brotherhood elected to focus on filling senior positions in the ministries, and then appointing the members of the group and its allies to lower positions. Their 12 months in power proved that the Muslim Brotherhood was seeking to impose its ideology on the state and the country. In other words, the civilian president violated one of the most principles of democracy that brought him to power, namely, that it must accommodate all spectrums of political life, instead of being for one faction against another. I say to President Mohamed Morsi, you were given power but you did not manage it well, and those who slip in power cannot last in it for long. On Tuesday night, Morsi gave an unfortunate speech, and was impeached on the following day. Morsi continued to reference legitimacy, though legitimacy had been withdrawn by millions of Egyptians from the Muslim Brotherhood regime, for failing to meet the most basic demands of the Egyptian people. Yet all this does not negate the fact that the Brotherhood has a broad popular base. If the new leaders in the transitional period were to mend what their predecessors ruined, then reform would not deserve its name if the Brotherhood did not retain their role in shaping the future of Egypt. Indeed, opposing their methods does not cancel out their political role. Some of the Brotherhood’s supporters in Rabea al-Awadiya Square, as they heard the statement of the armed forces command, chanted “down, down, with military rule.” But with these chants, they were only exposing their own ignorance, because the military did not seize power. Instead, they made a genius decision by transferring responsibility to the Supreme Constitutional Court, and assigned its head to take over the post of president for the transitional period. I support every point contained in the historic statement. I have always considered myself Egyptian as much as I am Lebanese, Palestinian, or Jordanian. I was very pleased to see that the statement did not ignore the young activists and their role in the transitional phase and the future of Egypt. For one thing, it was these youths who staged the January 25 revolution, on the back of which the Muslim Brotherhood rode and then hogged power for themselves. What matters now is that the pledges made in the statement are fulfilled sincerely and in good faith. This requires a firm stance by the armed forces, to thwart any attempt to violate the law by any party. The prestige of the armed forces must never be compromised, nor its ability to enforce the law on all citizens equally. Power during the transitional phase will be under the supervision of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the preeminent authority on what is legally valid or not. The court will be able to lead Egypt to safety, and it has always proven its boldness to defend what is right, without fear or hesitation. In truth, Egypt’s judges had disputed with the regime of Hosni Mubarak time and again, and when the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power, the disputes with the new regime only became worse and more numerous, with the judges telling Dr. Morsi specifically that this or that decision of his were invalid. We are today facing a situation that is unequivocal and unambiguous. Indeed, the armed forces intervened to rescue Egypt, which is thier role. What is left is implementation, which requires continuous bold stances by the armed forces, and support for the leaders of the transitional period, who no doubt will face attempts to undercut or sabotage their work. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.