On 26 June, The Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi gave a 2 hours and 35 minutes speech to the people addressing what did he do and some facts since he took the oath till now. This speech comes at the time when the public anger is rising in a fast way and calls for revolting against Morsi on 30 June finds acceptance from the people. One month ago, a new youth social movement called “Tamarod” or “Rebellion” started to collect signatures from ordinary people denouncing Morsi as a legitimate president to the republic of Egypt. However, this movement has no legal base; it reflects how much big a share in the Egyptian society feels upset during Morsi’s first year in power. This movement has got 15 million signatures in one month and they planned to wage a big demonstration all over the country in order to force Morsi to resign.
In his speech, the Egyptian president was targeting the ordinary people who signed papers of “Tamarod”; the usual Egyptians who don’t have any political background or ideological preferences. These people are highly touched by the toughness of the daily life in Egypt represented in the daily cut of electricity 4 or 6 hours per day, or waiting in long line in order to fuel their cars or being affected by the absence of security in Egypt. They are the usual people who rush out to the streets in the Friday of 28th of January and they are the ones who fueled the revolution in January 2011. On the other hand the speech didn’t target political opposition symbols, who are taking the lead of the upcoming 30 June protests. It is apparent that Morsi is trying to make a break between the political opposition figures and the anger mass of people through addressing the demands of this mass while neglecting calls of the political opposition.
At the end of his long speech the President took a bunch of decisions that deal with the crises of the daily life of ordinary citizens. He ordered the minister of interior to form an administration encountering thuggery so that people can feel secure. He also asked the minister of supply and subsidizes to withdraw working license from gas stations that refuse to work or doesn’t work in full capacity. In addition to that, Morsi asked all ministers and governors to dismiss bureaucrats who are not doing the jobs of the public. All these decisions will highly affect the ordinary citizens, if they are successfully achieved, in a positive way but the question here ‘Why didn’t Morsi take these decisions a year ago?’. Morsi spoke for the first time frankly on the conspiracy made by the old regime against the Egyptian revolution and mentioned people by names, their missions and their scandals. A new question rises again “Didn’t Morsi think that if he had spoken frankly to the people from the beginning, these anger mass wouldn’t have been existed now?” Moreover, the speech’s language was near to the street language that can be understood by the illiterate citizens who are living in suburbs and countryside inside and outside Cairo, he spoke in a sympathetic way and offered apologizes to the people on crises occurred along his first year.
On the other hand, it was quite clear that the speech didn’t handle the political crisis that Egypt is living right now. The mentality of winner takes all and loser takes nothing still dominating the political situation in Egypt. That was apparent in the decisions he took concerning the controversial constitution or achieving a national reconciliation between all sects of the society. Morsi invited all political parties to come his office the next day to form a committee in order to agree on the articles need to be amended and then they will present it to the parliament. He knows well that the opposition won’t accept that. This call is not the first, it may be the third or the fourth with the same formula and no reply from the opposition. In fact, all political partners in Egypt think that politics is a zero sum game; Morsi would make the committee and present amendments to the parliament then the parliament will refuse it. On the other hand, opposition wants a new constitution and imposes all its choices on the ruling party without any respect to their relative power. On the national reconciliation issue, Morsi has called all churches, Azhar, all universities, all worker unions, parties, etc. to form a committee to achieve the national reconciliation. Such a call without any agenda about issues to be discussed or tools and methodologies for achieving reconciliation or specific partners gives an impression that such call is nonsense and ridiculous. All these infer that Morsi doesn’t pay any attention to the political crisis caused because of his appointed general prosecutor or issuing controversial laws through Al-Shura council (which its legitimacy in question) or his insistence on the current government despite its failure, etc.
The speech of Morsi also sent reassurance to the Army and Police in order to ensure their loyalty for the next days. He praised the role of the Army in supporting the revolution and their handle of power to the elected president, ensuring a democratic civil-military relations (totally wrong since the constitution guarantees forming the balance of the armed forces away from the parliament and the formation of the National Security Council). The president also denounced the trials of bringing the army back to politics through saying that the Army is performing well in his original tasks (protecting the territory) and its obedience to the president (the high command of the armed forces). Also he praised police through his sympathetic language by counting the martyrs of police and declaring the severe need of empowering police forces back in order to ensure the security of the street.
So finally we can derive from the speech that Morsi was targeting the anger mass that doesn’t have any political backgrounds not the political opposition besides sending some soft messages to police forces and the army before 30 June protests. The reaction of the speech on the ordinary citizens can’t be measured now; it will be measured through the size of masses who will take out to the streets in 30 June. There are two possible scenarios for the speech reaction on the ordinary people; either the speech has convinced those who are hesitated about the efficiency of Morsi in his first year and thus they may not participate or they may not be affected by such speech since one year is enough to strengthen the mindset image about Muslim brothers failure in handling country’s affairs for a year.
The situation in Egypt is on its top. Every partner is mobilizing its supporters to remove the other on 30 June. Till now three people has been killed in different provinces as a result of the increasing status of congestion. Media of both sides, islamists and opposition, instigates the flame of Fitnah (strife) between Egyptians. The sole exit from this crisis is that all Egyptians must realize that there is no zero sum game in politics and they have to learn how to live with each other by denouncing their rhetoric of winner takes all loser takes nothing.
