Friday, July 5, 2013

Road-map for Obama in Egypt – help restore status-quo ante - By Ghulam Muhammed

Saturday, July 06, 2013

Road-map for Obama in Egypt – help restore status-quo ante

By Ghulam Muhammed

Though the world is aghast at how in these seasons of democratization epidemic world over, a US-backed army could give an elected President an ultimatum of 48 hours to clear the Tahrir Square of a million protestors and arrest and depose him and his government, suspending the constitution of the nation, while army’s billion dollar paymaster sits like a sphinx in the White House; after plotting and abetting the mass protest in the first place. The outrage felt around the world in Obama’s complicity in the events unfolding in Egypt is barely hidden.

However, give devil its due, one would think, the task of sending out a million protestors back to their homes and offices, there was hardly any other way, than the heavy dose of drama that army coup entailed. The protestors went home, without bloodshed, which would have been a certainty, if President Morsi would have tried to meet Army’s ultimatum and tried to clear Tahrir Square through use of force and bloodshed. One would think, at least one byproduct of the Army coup will get acknowledged, if Obama moves fast and demands Egyptian Army to restore Egyptian Constitution, release Mursi and restore his Presidency. After all he has been known for demanding other leaders of the nations to step down. So he should not feel chastened, if he now gathers courage and demands that Mursi should be put back on his elected post in a complete restitution of the legitimacy that Mursi government had enjoyed. There could be a period of peace before negotiations could restart to give what the opposition’s genuine demands could be. Tahrir Square should be declared a no-go area for any demonstration on pain of death. Shoot at sight orders should be declared by the government and backed by police and army.

The Egyptian uprising is Obama’s genie and he should be responsible to put it back in to the bottle.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

Demoting Democracy in Egypt - By Shadi Hamid - The New York Times