Just a year ago the world was examining Mohammed Morsi’s election as Egyptian president for clues as to whether one of the world’s oldest nations was taking its first baby steps toward democracy.
Upon his victory commentators the world over opined that the economically backwardEgyptmight finally see a brighter future. Others promised that even an Islamic movement such as Morsi’s Islamic Brotherhood could be tamed to work within a democratic system.
Today Morsi sits incommunicado in an army compound while his supporters battle the ruling army in the streets. The same masses that voted him into power have staged a massive overthrow unseating the man they’d elected just a year before.
For Zvi Mazel Israeli ambassador toEgyptfrom 1996 to 2001 and currently a fellow with theJerusalemCenterfor Public Affairs there is no question that the dire state of the economy was the key factor behind this overthrow. “There is no petrol no gas for cooking not enough electricity.Tourism Egypt’s greatest source of revenue is down. Had Egyptians seen that the Muslim Brotherhood was heading down the path of economic development they might have given it time to continue.”
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