The Egyptian Revolution

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The Egyptian Revolution
Noha Bakr
I. Introduction
The Arab world has been moving towards change in successive
events since the beginning of 2011. This change resulted in
successful and semi successful revolutions.1 It started in Tunis,
where dozens were left dead and President Ben Ali escaped with
his family to Saudi Arabia. The events in Egypt, which began on
25 January 2011, came to an end on 11 February 2011 when
President Mubarak stepped down. Regional bloody revolutions in
Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Bahrain have yet to see their results.
The domino effect continues to be accompanied by serious unrest
in Jordan, and Algeria.
In Egypt millions turned out in cities on 25th January,
especially in Cairo's Tahrir Square. At first tensions were high
between the police and protestors, with violence breaking out not
only in Cairo but also in Suez and Alexandria. The government
took a hard line, using riot-control tactics, and shutting down all
forms of communication. By the 28th, however, the protests had
resumed and the police had retreated. The security role was taken
over by the military, leaving major gaps in the everyday security
pattern. As pressure increased on Mubarak, the scale of the
protests continued to grow, especially on organised Friday rallies.
This study will focus on the Egyptian revolution, the reasons
behind it, its path and mechanisms, its uniqueness and immediate
consequences, and finally the prospects of future scenarios.
4
1 Successful revolution is mentioned in the context of change of the ruler;
whether or not the Egyptians aspiration for social justice will be fulfilled, and
whether or not the transition to democracy will take place, and how smoothly, is
still to be seen.
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II. Conditions in Egypt Prior to the 25th of January
Revolution
Prior to discussing the direct and indirect reasons behind the
Egyptian revolution, it is worth elaborating on the economic,
social, and political circumstances of Egypt prior to the 25th of
January revolution.
A. Economic Conditions in Egypt Prior to 25th of January
Revolution
Prior to the revolution on the 25th of January, the economy in
Egypt as a whole was performing better than ever. GDP growth
had shifted into a much higher gear, increasing from just below
5% in the mid-1990s to 7% in 2006-08. Egypt’s share of world
trade, which had been falling continuously for 40 years, started
expanding as exports tripled in value. Foreign investment gushed
in at record levels, notching up a cumulative total of $46 billion
between 2004 and 2009. Gross public debt in that period fell by
nearly a third. The size of the country’s foreign debt dropped
below the value of its foreign reserves for the first time in decades,
and debt servicing, a crushing burden in 1990, dwindled to a small
fraction of the value of annual exports.
Figure 4.1: Performance of the Egyptian Economy Prior to
the 25th of January Revolution.
Source: “Holding its Breath: A Special Report on Egypt”, The
Economist
(
17 Jul
y
2010
)
: 8.
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This brings us to one main obvious question: if the economy
was showing such an improvement, why did the Egyptians revolt
on the 25th January?
B. Social Conditions in Egypt Prior to 25th of January
Revolution
Prior to the 25th of January revolution, Egypt was (and still is)
characterised by its rapid population growth, with a population of
83 million that has been surviving on the fruits of development.
The UNDP Human Development Report of 2010 claims that
23.5% of the population belongs to the age category of 18-29
years; while the Egyptian Government statistics of 2007 show that
28% of the population belongs to the age group of 15-29 years old.
In other words, Egypt is characterised by its young population.
The population is 90% Sunni Muslim, 9% Coptic Christian,2
while ethnic and racial groups are divided among Nubians in
Upper Egypt, Sinai Bedouins, and the Bedouin tribes of Western
Egypt on the boarder with Libya. Religious, ethnic and racial
minorities have their grievances and refrain from sharing in the
fruits of development.
Serious efforts in the health sector have led to a decrease in the
infant mortality rate and an increase in life expectancy reaching an
average of 73 years. In the past 20 years illiteracy has dropped
sharply; however, quantity doesn’t reflect quality of education that
enables competition in the labour market.
The IT revolution in Egypt has been unprecedented in range
and scope. Twenty million Egyptians, mostly youth, have access
to the internet. In many ways Egypt has been classified as one of
the emerging powers in information technology, due to the
2 United States Central Intelligence Agency (2009, October 18). World Factbook.
Egypt. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/eg.html.
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government investment in this economic area to attract major
multinational investors such as Oracle and SAB for outsourcing
and establishing call centers. By June 2009, there were 3211 IT
companies in the country under the management of the new
generation of youth who were at the forefront of the revolution.
Additionally, there were 21 daily newspapers and 523 other forms
of publications, as well as 700 Arab speaking TV channels, the
majority of which broadcast ferocious political talk shows.
Figure 4.2: Indicators of Developments in
Egypt.
Source: Holding its Breath: A Special Report on
E
gypt
, The Economist
(
17 Jul
y
2010
)
: 4
This leads us to the inevitable question: if the social indicators
showed such an improvement, and Egyptians enjoyed the freedom
to be exposed to the internet and express their views in the press,
media, and blogs, then why did the Egyptians revolt on the 25 th
January?
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III. Political Conditions in Egypt Prior to 25th of January
Revolution
On the national level, the political mood in Egypt prior to the
25th of January revolution was acidly cynical, and full of
bitterness. President Hosni Mubarak was in command for 30
years. The sourness was fueled by the contrast between rising
aspirations and enduring hardships.3 There was a high sense of
alienation among youth, to the extent that the youth posting groups
on Facebook refered to Egypt in the following manner: “Egypt
isn’t my mother, Egypt is my step mother.”
The constitution was amended in 2005 to be customised to
serve the purpose of hereditary rule, and designed to disguise one-
man rule, with centralised administration. Human rights abuses by
the security sector has caught the public eye due to globalisation
tools; and fraud in the 2005 legislative elections was followed by
more sever fraud in elections of 2010. Egyptians expected the
same to be manifested in the presidential elections of September
2011.
On the regional level, Egypt prior to the 25th January revolution
has lost its regional power to other competitors in the region.
Egypt, that has supported decolonisation movements and led pan-
Arabism by soft and hard powers tools in the 60s and early 70s,
has lost its position. The Arab world is no longer dominated by the
Egyptian media, art, or expertise to lead development in the Arab
world. Other powers such as Al Jazeera, the power of oil money,
and religious movements have taken over the role of Egypt in the
region.
On the African level, Egypt had no role whatsoever, as African
countries perceived Egyptian leadership as arrogant and
uncooperative. This has resulted in the Nile crisis and African Nile
countries signing the Antibi Treaty to divide Nile water quotas,
3 In Egyptian old fairy tales, step mothers are portrayed as evil and abusive.
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and rejecting that Egypt gets a permanent seat in the Security
Council in case of its enlargement.
On the international level, Egypt remained a strong ally with
the US. Egypt pioneered peace with Israel, encouraging Jordan to
conclude its own peace deal and Palestinians to try to do so.
Mubarak’s policy helped Israel to punish Hamas by keeping a grip
over Gaza by closing Rafah boarders, and destroying tunnels.
Access to Egyptian airspace and to the Suez Canal has been
guaranteed, in addition to cooperation in fighting terrorism. This
resulted in Egypt receiving $2 billion in assistance since the
signing Camp David, which was divided between $1.3 billion in
military assistance and the remaining amount in economic
assistance. This figure declined to $1.55 billion in 2010 with
spending on military assistance being maintained, while less was
spent on economic assistance. America, for instance, paid
handsomely for its prize, pouring in some $60 billion of economic
and military aid over the years, though the economic part of that is
now shrinking.
Fiscal Year Economic Military IMET Total
1948-1997 23,228.6 22,353.5 27.3 45,669.4
1998 815.0 1,300.0 1.0 2,116.0
1999 775.0 1,300.0 1.0 2,076.0
2000 727.3 1,300.0 1.0 2,028.3
2001 695.0 1,300.0 1.0 1,996.0
2002 655.0 1,300.0 1.0 1,956.0
2003 911.0 1,300.0 1.2 2,212.2
2004 571.6 1,292.3 1.4 1,865.3
2005 530.7 1,289.6 1.2 1,821.5
2006 490.0 1,287.0 1.2 1,778.2
2007 450.0 1,300.0 1.3 1,751.3
2008 411.6 1,289.4 1.2 1,702.2
2009 250.0 1,300.0 1.3 1,551.3
Total 30,570.8 37,911.8 41.1 68,523.7
Figure 4.3: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Egypt ($s in millions)
Source: Sharp, Jeremy M. (2011, September 21). Egypt in Transition. CRS
Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service. Available at
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33003.pdf
62

Figure 4.4: The Decline in Economic Assistance to Egypt
Source: Sharp, Jeremy M. (2011, September 21). Egypt in
Transition. CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research
Service. Available at
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33003.pdf
This leads us to the next evident question: did the political
national, regional, and international conditions lead to the
Egyptian revolution on the 25th January?
IV. Reasons that led to the 25th of January Revolution
Despite figures illustrating that economic and social conditions
have improved in Egypt in recent years, the Egyptians nonetheless
took to the streets calling for the end of Mubarak’s rule, and social
justice.
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Figure 4.5: Consistency of US Military Assistance to Egypt
Source: Sharp, Jeremy M. (2011, September 21). Egypt in
Transition. CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research
Service. Available at
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33003.pdf
A. On the Economic Level
On the economic level, the figures illustrate development, but
not balanced development. Overall, the GDP was a sign of
improvement; however the gap between the rich and the poor was
enormous. Prior to the revolution, the Egyptian economy grew,
but this growth did not trickle down, as it only benefited the
regime’s narrow social base. There were areas in Upper Egypt and
Sinai that were completely deprived of the fruits of development
leading to the marginalisation of large sectors of society.
Unemployment reached 9.7%, which is concentrated mostly
among young people with university degrees.4 Corruption reached
an extreme, with Egypt rated 80th in the world.5
4 Bakr, Noha, 2011: Lack of Tolerances and the Arab Revolutions (Lebanon: The
Arab Net Work for Tolerance).
5 Transparency International (2010). Corruption Perceptions Index 2010.
Available at:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010: 8–14.
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B. On the Political Level
On the national level, there were several political reasons that
led to the 25th of January revolution. First, human rights abuse was
highly manifested in confronting demonstrations, with the
emergency law support. This was manifested with the
demonstrations in the city of Mahalla in April 2008 and other
individual incidents such as that of Emad el Kabir and Khaled
Said, where the latter’s death at the hands of the police served to
fuel the revolution. Khaled Said was tortured by the police,
prompting several Egyptian youth to adopt the defense of that case
on the Internet.
Secondly, the lack of tolerance with minorities prompted a lot
of Egyptian discontent. In Egypt, for example, violence against the
monasteries of Christian Copts was left with no decisive action
from the system. On New Year’s Eve in 2011, the Church of Two
Saints in Alexandria was the subject of a terrorist act which
burned parts of the church. Twenty-three people died as a result of
the attack, all of them Coptic Christians. Some 97 or more people
were injured. This was the deadliest act of violence against
Egypt's Christian minority in a decade, since the Kosheh massacre
in 2000 had left 21 Coptic Christians dead. Coptic Egyptians were
generally supportive of the Mubarak regime which acted as a
barrier against Islamic fundamentalism in the country. However,
the last few years witnessed a number of violent events against
Copts including the failure of the regime not only to protect them,
but also to address their grievances related to building churches
and appointing public offices. The restoration of the churches was
authorised with difficulty, and religious lessons in mosques were
avoided. Discriminatory practices against the Bahais took place, in
addition to the discontent among ethnic minorities, such as the
Nubians and the Bedouins of Sinai.6
6 Nubians are a racial group living in Southern Egypt, and have their own
unwritten language and have grievances because of forcing them to move to new
less prosperous locations during the building of the High Dam in the fifties.
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Third, the system insisted to pave the route to hereditary rule.
A huge number of constitution articles were amended in 2005 to
suit the November 2011 presidential elections’ needs for former
President Mubarak’s son, thereby eliminating any chance of
competition. Fourth, the results of the last Parliamentary election
in the fall of 2010, which gave the NDP an unprecedented
majority, were suspected of being fraudulent. Fifth, the
mismanagement of the crisis, that started earlier when the regime
failed to make the constitutional reforms of 2005-2007, and not
opening the political system to absorb the youth and the new
middle class. Furthermore, as the storms of the revolution started
to gather, the regime failed not only to read the signs but also to
define the situation and use the proper mechanisms to manage it.
Mubarak’s regime handled the revolutionaries with brutality- tear
gas, rubber bullets and water cannons were used. The termination
of all means of communication and internet fuelled anger. The
marginal changes initiated by the regime, such as dissolving
parliament, agreeing to oversee a process of reform and Mubarak
not running for reelection in September 2011, were not
satisfactory, and the continuous delayed inadequate response of
Mubarak and his regime led to severe widespread calls for
Mubarak's resignation. On the night of February the 10th, Mubarak
gave a speech which led many to believe that he would step down.
Anger erupted when he only stated plans to delegate some of his
power. By the next day, 11th February 2011, he had resigned.
On the international level, Egypt's foreign policy has also been
an important factor. Egyptians shared a deep sense of frustration
owing to the loss of Egyptian regional power to Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, and Turkey. The general public was frustrated at the way
Egypt handled the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The ordinary layman
perceived the Egyptian government to be a U.S. puppet, thus
delegitimising it in the eyes of many which brought about a
feeling of humiliation and frustration.7
7 One of the slogans chanted during the revolution was “Lift your head up you
are an Egyptian”, which intended to overcome the feeling of humiliation and to
empower dignity among Egyptians.
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C. On the Social Level
On the social level there are several factors that led to the 25th
January revolution, thereby accelerating its outcome. First, the
demographics: an explosive mix of high population growth
reaching 83 million, living in a congested 6% of geographic space
in Egypt had its negative impact. A population characterised by
young age, joblessness growth with rapid expansion of university
education that has produced graduates with an inadequate level of
quality education, leading to no hope in the future. In fact, two-
thirds of Egyptians are under 30, and each year 700,000 new
graduates compete for 200,000 new jobs.8 A further social
element is the discontent among racial, ethnic, and religious
minorities. Nubians and Bedouins felt deprived from the fruits of
development, alienated and not integrated in the Egyptian identity,
and further neglected in their demands and aspiration. As for the
Christians, they suffered the lack of responsiveness to their
religious demands to build and restore churches, as well as setting
the rules for Christians converting to Islam and vise versa.
The economic, political, and social reasons behind the
revolution were expressed by serious signs of discontent prior to
the revolution taking place. In 2004 there were about 266 acts of
protest; and by 2008 they reached 630.9 On one account, the daily
protests in 2010 averaged 5 a day.10 However, the government
reacted arrogantly by using excessive force, and indulging in
human rights abuse.
8 Green, Duncan (2011, 17 February). What caused the Revolution in Egypt? The
Guardian. Available at: http://www.guardian.com.
9 Al Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies, 2009: The Arab Strategic
Report 2009 (Cairo: Al Ahram Establishment): 365.
10 Shuhieb, Abdel Qader, 2011: The Last Hours of Mubarak (Cairo: Akhbar Al
Youm): 110.
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V. Elements that Distinguish the Egyptian Revolution
The Egyptian revolution is unique in many ways. Although
inspired by the Tunisian revolution that took place slightly prior to
it, still it differed to the Arab Spring or the previous Eastern
European revolutions that took place post-Cold War.
The use of technology has highly characterised the Egyptian
revolution. Social electronic media and traditional media like Al
Jazeera have clearly played an important part. The impact of
communicating and organising through Facebook, Twitter, blogs,
and YouTube,11 rather than any organisational function
emphasised a new technique. Between 11th January and 10th
February 2011, there were 34 million participants in the revolution
on Facebook across 2313 pages, where 9815 participants got 461
thousands commentaries.12 During the period between 10th
January and 10th February, 93 million tweets on the revolution
were exchanged within Egypt, and between Egypt and the outside
world.13
A further unique feature is the demographic aspect; a populace
country with 83 million supported the revolution, with floods of
demonstrators from different social and ideological backgrounds.
Between 25th January and 16th February 2011, 846 Egyptians were
killed and a total of 6467 participants were wounded in the
revolution.14
Comparing the Egyptian revolution, with that of Eastern
Europe in the post-Cold War era, one may find significant
differences. In the Eastern European countries the external factor
was the engine, inspirer, and the basic funder; however in Egypt,
11 Green, Duncan, 2011, art.cit.
12 Ibid.
13 Ghietas, Gamal (2011, March 8). Scientific Analysis of the Revolution through
the Internet. Al- Ahram Weekly (3-9 March 2011). Available at:
http://www.weekly.ahram.org.
14 Report of the Commission to Investigate the Facts of the 25th of January
Revolution (19 April 2011): 6.
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the internal economic, political, and social reasons were the main
motives. The Egyptian revolution had no unified leadership to
unite behind, no clear ideology, as it started seeking social justice,
and escalated due to the poor management of the crisis from
Mubarak’s regime. The reaction of the international community to
the Egyptian revolution differed from the reaction to the
revolutions of Eastern Europe. The latter were welcomed by the
West, and supported directly and strongly, as was their
participation in the Partnership for Peace prepared by NATO, as
an essential step for the political reform of these countries, in
preparation for joining NATO. The same may not be said in the
case of the Egyptian revolution. United States fumbled between
backing up the pro-American dictator ally and the promotion of
marauding forces aimed at reaching the values of democracy. The
case has spread to some extent, with the U.S. Secretary of State
not always taking a constant stand, at times appearing to be
reluctant while at other times more encouraging.
As for the European Union, despite the mutual cooperation and
security challenges it faces together with Egypt, such as illegal
immigration and terrorism, it has hindered generous financial
support that can help Egypt to stabilise in addition to adopting a
policy of wait and see and observing the evolution of the
revolution to see whether it will lead to a liberal democratic
system.
Another unique and differing characteristic is the notion of
“Selmya”. The participants placed emphasis on the peaceful nature
of the struggle, mainly comprised of a campaign of civil
resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches,
acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. The discipline of
remaining non-violent was instrumental in civil resistance.
Protestors avoided violence in order not to provide government
forces with the excuse they were looking for to clamp down on
protesters and delegitimise them publicly. Young Egyptians had
lots of experience from the Kefeya movement of 2004, the
elections of 2005 and 2010, the 6th April movement of 2008 and
the Khaled Said campaign of 2010. They learned from each
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confrontation and adapted their tactics and strategies accordingly.
They reached out to others such as Otpor in Serbia for training and
guidance. The Serbs met with Egyptian groups and shared their
own hard-won experience, as well as fundamental lessons of
popular non-violent resistance.15 Despite being predominantly
peaceful in nature, the revolution experienced a few violent
clashes between security forces and protestors. The campaign took
place in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities across Egypt.
VI. Direct and Immediate Consequences of the 25th of
January Revolution
Any change in system, must have direct and immediate
consequences. The Western media and press have described the
revolutions in the Arab world as “the Arab Spring”. However, the
Arab world climate is characterised as being bi-seasonal only;
there is a winter and summer, with only sandstorms in between, as
spring and autumn do not exist. In other words, to reach summer
from winter there must be a sand storm phase.
A. On the Economic Level
On the economic level, the cost was quite considerable, as
freedom has a price. On the immediate level there were signs of
confidence, as the banking sector opened its doors on Sunday 6
February only to find that public and corporate confidence
remained high, with a strong net surplus of inflows, contrary to
speculations that Egyptians would be rushing to the banks to
withdraw their money. Contrary to some, the currency remained
strong and only decreased slightly to 5.95 against the dollar, from
15 Meier, Patrick (2011, February 27). Civil Resistance Tactics Used in Egypt’s
Revolution #Jan25. Available at: http://irevolution.net/2011/02/27/tactics-egypt-
revolution-jan25/.
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5.85 prior to the events. In time however, Egypt’s real GDP
witnessed a sharp contraction in the third quarter 2010/11
(January- March 2011), registering -4.2 percent when compared to
5.4 percent in the corresponding quarter in 2009/2010. Investment
and net exports of goods and services declined by 26 percent and
3.6 percent respectively in real terms, when compared to the third
quarter of the previous year. According to the IMF estimates, the
expected average growth rate of the whole year 2010/11 is one
percent.16
Tourism revenues have decreased by 60% since June 2010 and
official reserves went down by 22% since the end of 2010. The
cost of subsidies has increased on the other hand, with public
wages also rising by 25%, with an external financing gap of 12
billion. The tension and continuation of the revolution manifested
itself in the presence of the demonstrators every Friday in Tahrir
Square, leading to a near collapse of the Egyptian economy.
Added to that are the strikes of the major public institutions, and
continues secretarial limitless demands. Furthermore, regional
events deprived the Egyptian economy of remittance of Egyptians
living in Libya, Syria, and affected groups coming from Bahrain,
Jordon and the Gulf in general.
It has been noted that a further deterioration of the economy
will strengthen the Islamists, who are enriched by their financial
resources and regional support of certain powers, allowing them to
play the role of the state, and fulfill grass roots needs. The risk of
the prolonged political transition period can highly affect the
economy, and cause a significant deterioration in fragile macro
economic balances. The worse scenario is a budget crisis, resulting
in losing confidence in the Egyptian pound.
In October 2011 S & P announced a decrease in Egypt’s long
term foreign currency, downgrading the local currency sovereign
debt rating to BB, with a negative outlook from BB and BB+
16 “Business Barometer”, The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, 27:1 (May
2011).
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respectively. S & P affirmed Egypt's short term local currency
debt rating at B.17
B. On the Political Level
On the political level, the immediate impact of the revolution
was highly felt. The process of demolishing the institutions and
tools that served the authoritarian regime took place in the first
month. This was manifested in Mubarak no longer holding the
presidency position, a change in the executive system with cabinet
reshuffled twice to meet lay man requests, the dissolving of
parliament, the suspending of the constitution, following
mechanisms of good governance in investigating files of political
and financial corruption, and full respect to human rights and right
of self expression. The process of construction of democratic
institutions began in the second month of the revolution, in the
form of a referendum on a short list constitution declaration, with
legislative elections held in September, followed by presidential
elections.
Ten month following the revolution, numerous Egyptian
institutions were still in place. One way to look at what happened
in Egypt in terms of the revolution is that it has not happened
completely. A revolution needs a leader with a vision and a
manual, which has not been the case in Egypt. The ability of the
youth, later joined by different age groups who were inspired by
different social classes and ideologies to accomplish what took
place was extraordinary, but the evidence is not yet clear and its
direction is uncertain.
17 “Sovereigns Rating List”, Standards & Poor’s Rating Service, (October 2011).
Available at:
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/sovereigns/ratings-
list/en/us/?subSectorCode=39.
72

While in transition, Egypt is facing a contradictory situation
and needs to move fast to find a balanced, elected, legitimate
government that can implement real reforms. However there is
also a need to achieve some consensus about the fundamental
principles that should underpin the new political system, and to
enact laws to regulate elections and the formation of political
parties. Finding a balance is a difficult task. Egypt in particular is
teetering between authoritarianism and the diktats of the street.
Under pressure, the SCAF (the Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces) and government are accused of trying to ban protests, of
placing limits on foreign funding to civil society institutions, and
of generating the idea that the new constitution must make the
military the guarantor of Egyptian democracy, modeled on the
Turkish constitution of 1960 that created a legacy from which
Turkey is still trying to extricate itself painfully today.18 This is
confronted by resistance from the civil society and foreign
funders, who wish to deal directly with civil society institutions
overstepping bilateral agreements signed earlier in the Mubarak
era. SCAF was seen as an attempt to step over sovereignty,
making use of the critical time Egypt is going through, to interfere
in state affairs under the disguise of promoting democracy.
The structure of political forces post the 25th of January
revolution could be illustrated in five main forces: the political
parties, the military, the former National Democratic ruling party,
the protestors, and the silent majority. The first were the political
parties. At the official election process opening on 18 September
2011, there were already 50 registered political parties, mainly
divided into 2 categories: first, the real parties- with a clear agenda
18 Ottaway, Marina (2011, August 10). Transitional Failure in Egypt and
Tunisia. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at:
http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/08/10/transitional-failure-in-egypt-and-
tunisia/4ma4.
73

and profile, consisting of the Islamist, liberal, left, and center,
which are each becoming highly fragmented; second, the category
of political parties including those that are weak with the purpose
of getting a particular individual elected.
Among such parties the observers focus on the Islamic ones
that are also suffering from fragmentation. The Muslim Brothers
are struggling to: first, maintain the cohesiveness of the group,
which has been witnessing constant splits ever since last February;
and second, compete with newly resurgent fundamental Islamic
forces that adopt a radical line in presenting their comprehensive
Islamic reform agendas, such as the Salafis and the Jamaa’
Islameya. Islamist parties call themselves civil parties, and call for
a civil state as the constitution prohibits the formation of political
parties based on religion. The division between the Islamic and
secular political parties continues to remain sharp, as was
indicated in the constitutional principles drafted by the leading
cleric at Al Azhar in August 2011. This has been widely accepted
by Egypt's liberal and secular politicians. The document proposes
that Egypt has an Islamic identity but is committed to a “civil and
democratic state governed by law and the Constitution”. The
document also calls for respect of freedom of opinion, faith, and
the guarantee of human rights. However, talks between Islamists
and liberals aimed at reaching an agreement on a set of principles
based on the Al Azhar draft, failed later in August. Islamist groups
insist on the Constitution being drafted by Parliament, while
liberals want an agreed-upon set of principles before elections are
held to ensure that Islamists will not turn Egypt into a theocracy.
The second political force in Egypt is the military. Post the 25th
January revolution, the military is the ruling force. The SCAF
announced that this is a transitional period and promised that
elections would be held within 6 months, which unfortunately did
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not take place.19 After initially declaring that elections would take
place in June and then revising that to September, the SCAF again
postponed parliamentary elections until November 2011 in order
to give new political parties more time to organise themselves and
campaign. The start of parliamentary elections is tentatively set on
21st November 2011, which should run through January 2012. The
Higher Electoral Commission, comprised of Egyptian judges, will
oversee the elections process. Until the time of writing this paper,
no conclusion was reached regarding the right of Egyptians living
abroad to vote, and allowing foreign monitoring or observation to
the election.
Elections will take place in three rounds separated by a period
of 15 days. According to the law, approved in the previously
mentioned March 2011 referendum, within six months of their
election, the lower and upper houses of parliament are to elect a
100-member Constitutional Assembly that will be responsible for
the drafting of a new Constitution. The Constitutional Assembly
must produce its draft within six months, and a referendum must
then be held within 15 days to approve or reject the new
Constitution.
At the earliest stages the SCAF was viewed as the defender of
the revolution, but as time passes there is tension about the role it
is playing, and whether it is plotting to continue to rule at the
expense of a civil state existence. While it is managing the
transitional period with high sensitivity on the street, it is not
leading the debate; neither is any civil power doing so.
A few months following the revolution and the overthrowing
of Mubarak, the SCAF started confronting a credibility crisis. The
protestors’ view on the military, evident in their chants “The
military and the revolution are one hand”, indicating that the
19 Ottoway, Marina (2011, October 10). The Emerging Political Spectrum in
Egypt. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2011/10/10/emerging-political.
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military was the one who defended the revolution by refusing to
fire on demonstrators, started to be highly criticised, and suspicion
arose among civilians regarding their intentions.
The SCAF at early stages came under criticism for its tardiness
and apparent reluctance in prosecuting Mubarak and former
regime officials, especially those responsible for killing hundreds
of peaceful protestors during the January revolts. Second, no
tangible policies have materialised to address the country’s
chronic economic problems and miserable living conditions.
Third, sluggishness in reforming the security sector and the latter’s
revived violent and humiliating treatment of accused/arrested
civilians contribute to increasing mistrust in the SCAF’s intent to
take serious procedures towards a fundamental restructuring of the
Ministry of Interior.20 Fourth, many traditional secular forces, as
well as new youth forces, suspect a coalition between the Islamic
forces and the SCAF thereby implying a hidden intention of not
handing the state to civil rule. Despite all the criticism the SCAF is
confronting, the majority of the Egyptians believe that the military
institution remains the only guarantor of a safe transition to an
aspired democracy, due to continued fragmentation of political
forces and their evident fragility.
On the foreign policy level, the SCAF and some Egyptian
officials declared that Egypt is abiding to its international
responsibilities and signed treaties with Israel. However, SCAF
and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in order to appeal to the street
demands, have charted a somewhat more confrontational regional
policy toward Israel. Nevertheless, Egyptian officials have
abandoned the Mubarak regime’s aggressive stance toward
Hamas, a move that enabled the Egyptian mediators to reengage
Palestinian factions in unity talks to broker a settlement, and
conclude an exchange of Palestinian prisoners against the
20 Isaac, Sally Khalifa, 2011: “Six Months After the Egyptian Revolution.
Prospects in the Struggle to Change the Unchanged”, Analysis 66. Instituto Per
Gli Studi Di PoliticaInternazionale (ISPI). Available at:
http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/Analysis_66_2011.pdf: 201.
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kidnapped Israeli Gilad Shalit. This breakthrough also led Egypt
and Hamas to reach a new border agreement at the Rafah crossing.
Various media reports indicated that the Rafah border crossing
would be completely open to Gazans.21
The third political force, on the Egyptian political scenery is
the former ruling National Democratic Party, and the possibility of
its revival. The party was officially disbanded in April 2011, after
two attempts to give it credibility, however its members are not
banned from political life. Talks are taking place about
reactivating Nasser-era ‘Treason law’ to hinder previous NDP
members from sharing in political life.22 Former NDP members
are branded by the term “felol”23 among laymen. Felol are not out
of the political scene and are trying to find legal as well as illegal
methods to return.
The fourth political force is the protestors, who were the key
elements in bringing Mubarak’s regime down. During the
revolution, protestors from different segments and ideological
backgrounds were united as one hand. Unfortunately, post the
revolution and Mubarak stepping down, they became fragmented
and even conflicting. Among these protestors are the activists of
the April 6 Youth Movement, members of We are All Khaled
Saeed, the Revolutionary Youth Council, Movement Supporting
Mohamed el Baradei, and The National Association for Change,
Karama. These groups are only a few examples of the many
groups that exist based on religious, ethnic, and racial minorities
demands, and grievances. The worst protest took place in October
2011, when Christians gathered in front of Capital state television,
known as Masperro, and other locations in Egypt, to protest the
burning of the church in Upper Egypt village of al Marinab. This
resulted in confrontations with the military, external elements
21 Sharp, Jeremy M., 2011, art.cit.
22 Ottoway, Marina (2011,October 10), art.cit.
23 The word Felol in Arabic means from the past.
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leading to a toll of 25 killed and around 300 injured.24 This
resulted in a credibility crisis in SCAF on the national and
international level, with calls in the US to cut down military
assistance amounting up to 1.3 billion annually.25
The fifth political force is the silent majority. The silent
majority involves those who do not participate in demonstrations,
do not share in political parties’ activities, and are not former
National Democratic Party members. Their main power is derived
from the fact that they are the constituencies who cast their ballot,
and based on this ballot the political system and candidates will be
elected to shape the Egyptian future. The main objectives of the
silent majority are stability and security. They share discontent but
no fury against the Mubarak regime, and still have high hopes
regarding the SCAF and transition to democracy. It is this silent
majority that had constituted a big percentage of the turnout on the
constitutional amendments,26 with a 41% turnout of the eligible 45
million. This amounts to double the turnout during the previous
regime. It is this silent majority who, after the revolution, elected
the same persons previously appointed by former regimes in the
Academic hierarchy of the different public universities across
Egypt. Activists refer to this silent majority as "The Kanaba
party", where the word Kanaba, which means sofa, is used quite
ironically in the sense that although this silent majority had no role
in the revolution, it nonetheless played a huge role in determining
Egypt's future.
24 Tadros, Mariz (2011, October 13). Egypt’s Bloody Sunday. Middle East
Research and Information Project. Available at:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero101311.
25 Ottoway, Marina (2011, October 10), art.cit.
26 A referendum on a short list constitution declaration took place 2 months
following the revolution.
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C. On the Social Level
The 25th January revolution was set to establish a new social
contract, based on social justice, respect of all social segment
rights, and democracy. Different sects of society shared in the
revolution: men and women, youth and old, ethnic, racial and
religious minorities. The developments post the revolution have
allowed each minority group to express their grievances
individually in demonstrations, sit in, and protesting form. The
Christian protests during October have shocked the entire
Egyptian nation, as well as the international community,
increasing fears of extremism, poor military management of the
crisis, and external conspiracy from regional and international
sources.
On a gender level, women also fear that Islamists take over and
replicate the example of Iran. Liberal women fear the imposition
of restrictions on their dress code, freedom of activities,
movement, and political gains. A further fear is that women were
not represented in the committee that proposed the constitution
amendments. Besides, the number of women in Cabinet decreased,
and the female quota in parliament was cancelled.
Bedouins of Sinai have shown great discontent and fear of the
former regime’s continuation in the lack of development plans,
and excessive security measures. They expressed this in peaceful,
as well as aggressive demonstrations, and actions.
The level of security in general and the efficiency of the
security system have decreased in urban as well as rural areas.
During the revolution, 4000 police vehicles were destroyed,
thereby affecting mobile security capacity. Several segments of
society have control over weapons which were confiscated from
police stations, and smuggled through tunnels from Gaza, or
through the boarders from Libya. Car thefts, thugs’ criminal
actions, and the looting of antiquities have increased immensely.
Unfortunately, there are no clear statistics in order that
comparisons may be drawn, but laymen feel the lack of security,
and consequently suffer as a result of that fear.
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VII. Prospects of Future Scenarios for Egypt post the 25th of
January Revolution
The world had witnessed the Egyptian "Sylmya's" revolution
led by its youth as proof to the world that change need not be
accompanied by violence, as extremists believe. Factions of
society from different ideological backgrounds stood hand in hand
in seeking democracy, and denouncing tools and applications of
lack of good governance that branded the previous regime.
However, the main question that one would ask concerns the
projected scenario and its effect on the national and regional level.
There are different scenarios projected for Egypt’s future.
These scenarios vary from extreme optimism to extreme
pessimism. However, prior to the holding of elections and writing
of the constitution, it is difficult to assess the relative strength of
the different camps competing over Egypt’s future. The first
scenario is the birth and survival of the liberal trend in Egyptian
politics that is youthful and capable, and will not accept to revert
to the old regime policies that led to the abuse of human rights,
social injustice, and autocratic rule. This liberal trend will create a
coalition with the conservative Islamic trends, leading to an
enriching diversity. The security system will be reformed to
overcome the old regime drawbacks, while the international
community will support these developments encouraging foreign
investment and free trade agreements, allowing the Egyptian
economy to revive itself once again.
A second scenario would be the consolidation of the Islamic
trend in the country. While the Muslim Brothers have been legally
recognised, establishing themselves as a new political party called
the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), other Islamic parties have
also been formed such as the Wasat party on the Left and the
Gama‘at Islamiyya, Jihad, and Salafis on the Right. To avoid
being left behind, Sufi orders began to organise and position
themselves along the new and expanded political spectrum. The
foreign policy will have an Islamic approach that can either ally
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with Islamic countries in the region, or move to the Turkish
example.
The economy of the country will be determined in a manner
associated to these scenarios, varying from a capitalist one to a
purely socialist camp. The bleakest scenario is the fragmentation
of Egypt, and the call of secession among marginalised ethnic
groups, where the Christians Copts are agitated by the aggressive
attacks on churches and hostility from extremist Muslim groups
lacking state protection to seek secession in the Southern part of
Egypt. The same applies to Sinai Bedouins, which could allow
Israel the opportunity to impose its control over the Sinai
Peninsula.
It is indeed an incredibly difficult task to predict the model
Egypt will follow, be it the Iranian, or the Turkish, or the Pakistani
model. The choice of any of these models will depend on the
variables in the short run and the ability of the SCAF in the
coming year to deal with the erupting political, economic, and
social crises, in addition to the hope of the international
community and regional power to support Egypt’s transition into a
democratic state. Egypt’s foreign policy will be shaped
irrespective of the choice of either of the above scenarios, which
will undoubtedly have an impact on the region and the
international community as a whole.
In the Arab world there is no spring. It is either winter or
summer. What lies between are sandstorms. Summer however
always follows the sandstorm, but one never knows how long the
sandstorm will last, and how much it will affect the summer
session. These issues will hopefully be addressed by the
developments of the coming events, from the time of writing this
article until the next Egyptian presidential elections in early 2013.
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