Photo: AP Mahmoud Badr, a
leader of the Tamarod, or rebel, movement calling for the ouster of Egypt's
president talks as a member holds a red card during a press conference in
Cairo. Liberal and youth movements that backed the military’s removal of
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are now fighting to make their calls for
reform heard as they push back against the military’s strong grip on the new
leadership. At stake is the hope that the Arab world's most populous nation
will emerge from more than two years of turmoil as a democracy.
Mid.EastNEWS - CAIRO (AP) The
liberal and youth movements that backed the military's removal of Islamist
President Mohammed Morsi are now pushing to ensure their calls for change are
heard in the face of the generals' strong grip on the new leadership. At stake
is the hope that the Arab world's most populous nation will emerge from more
than two years of turmoil as a democracy.
Morsi's
removal brought a wave of celebration after millions nationwide joined four
days of protests last week demanding his removal. But that is giving way to a
harder reality for the democracy advocates who organized the protests - including
many of the same movements that led the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni
Mubarak in 2011 then opposed the military's subsequent 17-month rule.
Many
are wary of the military's influence and skeptical that it backs their reform
agenda and insist they must not become a liberal facade. But they are also
under heavy pressure to keep unity within the military-backed leadership: The
charged nationalist, pro-army atmosphere that has swept the country has little
tolerance for breaking ranks at a time when Islamists continue protests demanding
the return of Morsi.
Earlier
this week, the head of the military issued a sharply worded statement that
reinforced that message, warning political factions against
"maneuvering" that holds up progress. The strategy of the
revolutionary groups - an array of leftist, secular and liberal movements - is
to push hard for figures they trust to take the top spots in the new government
being constructed that will run the country, probably until early next year.
So
far they seem to be succeeding. Leading reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, an
iconic figure to some activists, has been named vice president. An economist
active in the movements is the new prime minister.
ElBaradei's
appointment is "a great revolutionary gain," Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, a
leader of Tamarod, the youth activist movement whose anti-Morsi petition
campaign led to the protests, wrote on the group's Facebook page. Once the
government is formed, the next battle is to "impose the vision of the
revolution, more importantly, on the permanent constitution."
On
Thursday, the National Salvation Front - the main grouping of liberal and
secular parties, in which ElBaradei is a senior leader - demanded the Cabinet
"be made up from figures who belong to the Jan. 25 Revolution."
Much
is on the line for the movements: They have to prove their gambit of supporting
the military ouster of the country's first freely elected leader can bring a
democracy. When army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi announced on national TV
on July 3 that Morsi had been removed, standing with him were ElBaradei and
representatives of Tamarod, along with the sole Islamist group backing Morsi's
ouster, the Al-Nour Party, and other figures.
Their
presence implied that they would have a say in power. But it opened them to
charges that longtime proponents of democracy were fomenting a military
takeover. Morsi's Islamist supporters say the military's coup has destroyed
democracy and is bringing back dictatorship. The United States has expressed
concern over the military's move, though it acknowledges the popular support
for it. "It's clear that the Egyptian people have spoken," State
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
The
liberals' position was made even harder after more than 50 pro-Morsi protesters
were killed by troops and police in clashes Monday. Amr Ezzat, a human rights
researcher, said the military will have to respect the voices of the
revolutionary movements, which it ignored when it stepped into rule after
Mubarak. The street is too primed to rise up again on "a new
adventure."
"ElBaradei
has a role and influence in what is going on. El-Sissi knows there is
opposition out there, which managed to turn things upside down. It must have a
representative (in power). This is progress," he said.
If
the politicians backslide on democracy promises, activist groups on the ground
say they are willing and able to take to the streets again to demand their
agenda, which includes social justice, respect for human rights and civil
liberties, and greater accountability over government and the military.
Some
are already dismayed by the return of military power and the police, which were
hated under Mubarak but now are basking in public praise after backing Morsi's
ouster. Sally Toma, a longtime activist, called what has happened "a coup
against the revolution."
"We
are against the military and the Brotherhood. We struggle against both,"
she said, adding that a new Tamarod-style canvassing campaign called
"Manifesto" to collect popular demands is already in the works.
"We are back to square one. Our demands are the same."
Already,
the liberal movements are hitting back against any signs by the new leadership
of turning against their agenda. One notable example came amid negotiations
over the prime minster post last week. Abdel-Aziz of Tamarod publicly accused
the spokesman of the new interim president of lying and demanded he be more
accountable to the public. It was sparked when an agreement to appoint
ElBaradei as prime minister was blocked by Al-Nour. The spokesman told
journalists there was no final deal to name him - the sort of spin that in the
past went unchallenged.
Bigger
frictions erupted when the interim president issued a declaration that was
effectively a truncated constitution for the transition period, defining the
basic government authorities until elections early next year.
Tamarod
and the Salvation Front objected that they had not been consulted and demanded
changes. In part, they said it gave too much power to the president, a post
they had envisaged as symbolic. But in particular, they were up in arms that it
retained clauses opening the door for greater Islamic law that Islamists had
put into the constitution they drafted and passed under Morsi.
The
groups saw that as a gesture to Al-Nour and protested that the Islamist party
was claiming undeserved influence even after Morsi's fall. Mai Wahba, a
founding member of Tamarod, said the group had since negotiated with the
interim president and that it is satisfied its concerns are being addressed.
She said Tamarod was convinced the Islamist clauses will be removed in the
amended constitution.
She
acknowledged that the support of Al-Nour is needed for the interim government.
"Don't forget, Al-Nour can go ally with the Brotherhood and represent pressure
on national security," she said. "The situation right now won't stand
divisions again among the civil current. This will benefit the Islamist
current."
Still,
that sort of compromise and pragmatism does not go over well with some groups
in the street. One activist group, the National Community for Human Rights and
Law, denounced the constitutional declaration as "repressive," saying
it belongs to the "Mubarak and Morsi era, not to the revolution."
The
killings of the Morsi supporters on Monday are also proving a moral test for
the democracy advocates. Human rights groups are torn between their mandate to
document violations and their reservations about the Brotherhood's own attitude
on rights advocates.
Ghada
Shahbender, a leading rights activist, said that her "personal
dilemma" was that rights groups defended Islamists suppressed during the
Mubarak regime, but after Mubarak's fall the Brotherhood turned against rights
activists. "Today we are supposed to go defend them, stand in their
defense," she said.
After
the killings, Shahbender said human rights lawyers went to the morgue to
document the deaths and help families find their slain loved ones. Brotherhood
lawyers turned them away, saying their help was not needed.
Over
the past two years, Brotherhood officials accused rights groups of being
foreign-funded and echoed the military's justifications for crackdowns on
protesters during the post-Mubarak military rule.
Shahbender
said she has also been documenting attacks by Morsi supporters on their
opponents the past weeks. In one incident in Cairo near where she lives, she
said, "they stood on top of a mosque and shot people in cold blood. . . . I am trying to be unbiased but I am a
human being."
She
too reflected that hope that reform-minded figures like ElBaradei in government
will advance their cause, noting that the new interim president called for an
investigation into killings. And, she said, "we have a vice president who
has always pushed the human rights agenda to the forefront."
Photo: AP Mohamed
Elbaradei, left, meeting with interim president Adly Mansour, right, at the
presidential palace. Liberal and youth movements that backed the military’s
removal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are now fighting to make their
calls for reform heard as they push back against the military’s strong grip on
the new leadership. At stake is the hope that the Arab world's most populous
nation will emerge from more than two years of turmoil as a democracy.
Photo: AP Tamarod
opposition leaders from left, Hassan Shahin, Mohammed Abdel-Aziz and Mahmoud
Badr meeting with interim president Adly Mansour, right, at the presidential
palace. Liberal and youth movements that backed the military’s removal of
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are now fighting to make their calls for
reform heard as they push back against the military’s strong grip on the new
leadership. At stake is the hope that the Arab world's most populous nation
will emerge from more than two years of turmoil as a democracy.
Photo: AP A poster of
ousted President Mohammed Morsi hangs on the barb wire at the Republican Guard
building in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Egyptian security
forces killed dozens of supporters of Egypt's ousted president in one of the
deadliest single episodes of violence in more than two and a half years of
turmoil. The toppled leader's Muslim Brotherhood called for an uprising,
accusing troops of gunning down protesters, while the military blamed armed
Islamists for provoking its forces.
Photo: AP Lt. Gen.
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, center, flanked by military and civilian leaders in
including reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, far left, Tamarod leader Mahmoud
Badr, second left, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, third from right,
and Pope Tawadros II, second from right, as he addresses the nation on Egyptian
State Television. Liberal and youth movements that backed the military’s
removal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are now fighting to make their
calls for reform heard as they push back against the military’s strong grip on
the new leadership. At stake is the hope that the Arab world's most populous
nation will emerge from more than two years of turmoil as a democracy.
Photo: AP Egyptian army
soldiers stand guard on their armored personnel carrier, near the presidential
palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, July 11, 2013. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
vowed Thursday not to back down in its push to restore ousted Islamist leader
Mohammed Morsi to power but insisted its resistance is peaceful in an effort to
distance itself from more than a week of clashes with security forces.
