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| President Morsi's actions or inactions appear to be the root of multiple demonstrations today. (Photo by Reuters) |
This is the first Friday after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan so many groups have set this day aside for demonstrations for a variety of reasons that have building over the last month. The groups gathering all seem to be gathering in either opposition or support of President Morsi for one reason or another. The bulk of the protests seem to revolve around these three issues: Sinai, Power, and Freedom of Expression.
Sinai: In the beginning of the month, at least 16 Egyptian officers were killed by militant radicals in the Sinai peninsula. There were conflicting reports that Egypt had been warned by Israeli intelligence of pending attacks. Demonstrators arriving in Tahrir today do so for a variety of reasons related to the Sinai:
- some gather today in memory for the slain officers
- some gather in protest of Morsi who did not attend the state funeral services
- some gather in protest of Morsi and the resulting aggressive attacks on suspected militant hideouts
- some gather demanding increased security and efforts for stabilization in the Sinai peninsula
Power: President Morsi further heightened his powers of control this past month by suddenly and ceremoniously "retiring" SCAF leaders, including Field Marshal Tantawi, who were given the state's highest medals and made "Presidential advisors".
- This act, though supported by many revolutionaries, is also a point of criticism by the same because it puts so much power into the hands of Morsi; without the old SCAF leaders, Morsi also dissolved the previous supplemental constitution amendments made by SCAF thus giving the President alone legislative authority until a new Constitution is drafted and a new Parliament is elected.
- Muslim Brotherhood and their Freedom & Justice Party quickly went to the streets in support of the Morsi move. They gather today to oppose those who are against Mori's action and to "protect" their party's offices for fear of opposing demonstrators.
- Morsi has been actively attempting to court favor with various groups who will oppose him today; the quick and aggressive Sinai attacks were on the heals of the funerals he did not attend, he has diversified his cabinet though many still say this is not enough, and changing a law in the past 24 hours to see the release of a newspaper editor standing trial, which leads us to...
...Freedom of Expression: a newspaper editor stands trial for "insulting the President" and contributing to lack of peace or inciting public panic.
- demonstrators for freedom of public expression have been active since the revolution; among the young people that we talk to, this is usually a serious topic of discussion. Democracy and freedoms hinge on the ability to not only disagree but to make that disagreement known. There has been much publicized criticism of Morsi and Freedom and Justice Party's willingness to allow for complete freedom of expression.
- outcry over the trial has reached a fever pitch in the past few days. For example, prominent revolutionary activist Wael Ghonim has tweeted more than 20 times in the past 24 hours on the subject; that may not sound like a lot, but with nearly 629,000 followers @Ghonim, those tweets have led to 100's of additional comments and 1000's of retweets/favorites as revolutionary Egyptians have joined the chorus of demanding greater freedom of expression.
- Morsi, knowing the increasing chatter, just made his first use of legislative power to change the law regarding holding the accused editor in jail until the trial. Reports indicate this was likely to deflect the growing criticism.
- Despite this recent overture, many demonstrators are likely to point to the larger history of changes that indicate, in their minds, an opposition to full freedom of expression/press, as this Reuter's report states "Mursi drew further criticism when the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, which was not dissolved, appointed new editors to several state newspapers. Though this had been common practice under Mubarak, critics said Mursi’s allies should not have followed the same practice in the new Egypt."
There are other reasons for demonstrations today: against requesting increased loans from IMF, lack of change in economy and living conditions, increased electric costs while continuing power shortages, cooking and automotive gas shortages, and the list goes on. With so many demonstrators showing up in the same place at the same time for various reasons, what message will be heard?
It's unlikely that any one message will be heard--what will be seen and heard is simply this: There's a lot of unhappy people.
Hopefully, in the midst of this unhappiness, demonstrations will not lead to tragedy.
Continue to pray for Egypt.
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