Friday, June 28, 2013

Egypt Split ‘Between Egyptians and Islamists’

Analysis by Hisham Allam

"......The new appointments included the controversial decision to award governorship of Luxor to a member of the hardline Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya. The move sparked public outrage – it was this group that was believed to have orchestrated the attack on Luxor’s West Bank in 1997 in the Temple of Hatshepsut that killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians.
The new appointments have led to a wave of protests in several governorates, and clashes between Brotherhood supporters and opponents. This has led further to general unrest across the country. Clashes continue to erupt nationwide between Morsi’s supporters and ‘rebel’ campaigners in the run-up to the Jun. 30 demonstrations.
There have been several moves to fill top posts with Brotherhood men. Morsi spent more than three weeks looking for his prime minster and then appointed Hisham Qandil, ending up placing both the executive and legislative authority in the hands of the Brotherhood.
Kamal el-Helbawi, formerly a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, told IPS that the failure of the President to implement his promises, and his poor performance were the most important factors behind the anger of the people, and spurred their desire to overthrow him on Jun. 30.
He was not straightforward with the Egyptian people,” the former veteran member of the Brotherhood said. Morsi’s failures began early, he said, and allies who had stood next to him abandoned him after he went back on his promises.
“The biggest problem now,” el-Helbawi told IPS, “is that the President believes that the non-Islamist role ended after the completion of the revolution.” Morsi forgot, he said, that today’s enemies were yesterday’s allies and partners in the revolution."

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