Egypt sheds sinister Brotherhood shadow

FIVE YEARS AFTER MURSI TOPPLED, AL SISSI RESTORES SECURITY

Five years after the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, Egypt has come a long way in recovering from political and economic unrest resulting from his oneyear rule, experts have said.

On June 30, 2013, millions of Egyptians took to the streets demanding Mursi step down due to his divisive and incompetent rule.

He spurned the demand and three days later the army, led by then Defence Minister Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, toppled Mursi and detained him.

Thousands of his Muslim Brotherhood members have since been rounded up for inciting violence.

“A main principle of the June 30 revolution is equality of rights for all Egyptians irrespective of religious faith and social standing,” Abdul Aleem Mohammad, an analyst at the Cairo-based Al Ahram press institution, told Gulf News.

“Egyptians’ insistence on the modern civil state reflects their rejection of the religious state promoted by Islamist groups based on a distorted interpretation of religious texts. The Brotherhood’s rule threatened Egypt’s national fabric and raised the prospect of civil war,” Mohammad added.

Egypt has seen a spate of fatal militant attacks, mainly targeting security forces and the minority Christians since Mursi’s ouster.

Since taking office as Egypt’s president in 2014, Al Sissi has been keen to re-establish security across the country and rejuvenate its economy ruined by the unrest that followed a 2011 popular uprising, which forced Mursi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, to resign.

Al Sissi was re-elected by a landslide in March.

“During the Brotherhood rule, unemployment and budget deficit rates soared, while most commodities and services became scarce,” Rashad Abdu, an economic expert, told Gulf News.

“Electricity outages were common. So was waiting for hours in order to fill our cars with petrol. Now everything is available and the world’s outlook of Egypt’s has become positive,” Abdu added.

In May, Egypt’s foreign reserves hit a record $44.1 billion against a humble $15 billion in 2013. The current economic growth stands at 5.4 per cent compared to two per cent under the Brotherhood, according to official figures.

Subsidy cuts

“Al Sissi has taken bold decisions such as subsidy cuts to address the situation,” Abdu said.

In recent months, Egyptians have experienced a wave of price increases resulting from austerity measures aimed at healing the country’s ailing economy.

In November 2016, Egypt floated its local pound and cut the state fuel subsidy, steps that unleashed hikes in prices of different goods and services in this country of nearly 95 million people.

The measures, however, secured Egypt a $12 billion loan over three years from the International Monetary Fund.

Al Sissi has repeatedly said that the reforms are necessary to rejuvenate the economy and urged Egyptians to be patient.

“Al Sissi has risked his popularity by taking these bold decisions,” said Abdu. “Only ungrateful people deny the enormous economic accomplishments attained by Al Sissi like the new Suez Canal.”

Less than two months after he took office in June 2014, Al Sissi unveiled a plan to construct an extension to the historical Suez Canal, an artificial short cut linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

At the time, he ordered that the 35-kilometre stretch be built in a record one year.

The $8-billion project was wholly funded by Egyptians through certificates of deposits, reflecting popular support for the new leader.

In August 2015, the new stretch was inaugurated at a grand ceremony attended by world leaders and dignitaries.

The scheme marked a milestone in a series of mega projects that included building a nationwide network of roads, electricity stations and new homes for slum dwellers.