Muslim Brotherhood - a common enemy in Egypt

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 2 / Trend / Rufiz Hafizoglu, Trend's Arab News Service chief The election of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, was hailed as a triumph for the country's Islamists, but the events that unfolded a year later have not confirmed this. The president's intention to carry out a number of reforms during the period of his year-long stay in power was not brought to life and all his promises practically not implemented. As a result, all political and religious groups that oppose the Muslim Brotherhood began to protest, naming economic crisis in the country as a cause of their protests. Although, at the first phase of the on-going protests in Egypt, opposition leaders and, in particular, Mohammed Al Baradei said the resignation of Morsi's government is not the main goal of the on-going protests, they have put forward this demand as the protests gained widespread support. Yesterday, four government ministers announced their resignation. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamil Amr also tendered his resignation. Following a statement by the ministers, the Muslim Brotherhood has reported that the news does not reflect reality and further aggravates the political crisis in the country. Unceasing protests in the country as well as an ultimatum by the army that has broken its silence this time as opposed to the first 'revolution' by giving the government 48 hours to resolve the situation indicates that events will unfold in a different direction. The Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power after the overthrow of Hosni Mobarak's government may be seen as a wrong step from the political point of view, given immunity to political repression acquired by the organisation during Mobarak's 30-year rule, its serious staffing problems as well as political governance shortcomings. One of the unforgivable mistakes was that Morsi's government, inspired by example of Ankara, has demonstrated its intention to undertake the same reforms that Turkey launched back in 2002 and still continues to implement. On the other hand, what is happening today in Egypt as a whole is not new to the Arab world and especially for the countries of North Africa. When we look at the political events taking place in Egypt, it is possible to observe, at least partly, the repetition of the Algerian events of 1992. It was in 1992 that the prevention of a rise to power of Islamists that won the elections in Algeria has laid a foundation for religious radicalisation. Given that Egypt's ruling Freedom and Justice party has still not made an official statement on the settlement of the political crisis in the country as well as the fact that it is not going to give up so easily in the political arena, it is likely that the process will end up in unification of all opposition groups against the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a 'common enemy' of the army and other Islamist and liberal groups that are in opposition to each other as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood. This, in turn, indicates that even more serious political change may take place in Egypt in the short run. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az