In the middle of all the political and economical turmoil facing the people of Egypt, along with the worry and anxiety over the uncertain future of the country, and while people are wondering whether they will be able to sustain themselves and their children in light of the increasing poverty and the loans our government insists on burdening us with, our esteemed presidency is filing one lawsuit after the other against people they deem disrespectful of the president. It looks like they have nothing better to do, allocating lawyers, judges and administrators to work on reports and compile case-files. All the effort, time and money being put into this is a waste and an insult to all of us.
Let us waste more time and document the Morsy situation we have. I certainly do hope that His Excellency isn’t insulted when we state facts!
Fact #1: Morsy’s 100 day plan had 64 goals, ten of which were met. This might have been overlooked had the president not given us percentages in his 6 October celebrations speech, where he cited an improvement of 60% in traffic, 40% in garbage collection, 80% in bread availability, and 11% in tourism.
Anyone living in Egypt can vow to the contrary!
Fact #2: In his electoral campaign, Morsy said he would review the peace treaty with Israel. In August, Israeli soldiers crossed our borders and killed two army guards while chasing down militants…and we have no idea what is going on in Sinai now!
Fact #3: Morsy promised accountability for those who killed revolutionaries. However, all accused officers were acquitted. In fact, several officers were promoted, and MOI people got several salary increases. To add insult to injury, the man who was responsible for security during the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes became minister. Also, SCAF heads were honoured despite the lawsuit against them with regards to the Maspero Massacre that killed at least 27 Egyptians, mainly Copts.
Oh, Mubarak and his gang just won a retrial!
Fact #4: Speaking of Copts, Morsy failed to attend the coronation of the new pope of millions of Egyptians
Fact #5: Morsy promised us a constitution agreed upon by “all parties”. All non-Islamist parties rejected it, millions protested in front of his presidential palace, several of his advisers resigned because of it, and Muslim Brotherhood supporters beat up and detained protesters, calling them traitors and/or infidels. The constitution passed with a voter turnout less than 34%, and only 64% of those approved it.
“All parties” must have a different meaning to His Excellency!
Fact #6: The president swore an oath to protect the judiciary and reiterated it several times. The first thing Morsy tried to do as he came into office was resurrect the parliament in defiance of a court order, only to have the court reaffirm its decision. Then to avoid such mishaps, he issued a presidential decree granting himself, his Shura council and Constituent Assembly immunity from judicial oversight, fired the prosecutor general and appointed another without consulting judges.
Define: “Oath” and “protecting the judiciary” please!
Fact #7: During his electoral campaign, Morsy claimed that he was a consultant for NASA, then after he won the seat, he denied ever saying that.
A lie on your CV can get you fired, you know!
Fact #8: His presidential adviser and peer in the Brotherhood’s guidance bureau calls on Egyptian Jews of Israel to return to Egypt, then the presidency issues a statement saying “this call has nothing to do with us”.
Hmmmm!
Fact #9: He has got into some ridiculous situations that shame the whole nation, like the unnecessary Planet Of The Apes jape during his Time interview, or his talk of democracy while we are being beaten up and detained protesting the constitution. This is not to mention adjusting his pants while in a public diplomatic meeting, and blowing his nose in front of the cameras.
You must realise we feel like hiding behind the sun when you say and do these things!
Fact #10: The “open jacket” scene in Tahrir, followed by the hundreds (some say thousands) of security personnel protecting him while he roams mosques for Friday prayers.
Roger Waters’ The bravery of being out of range comes to mind.
Fact #11: His political adviser is a Salafi sheikh who has a degree in medicine, a degree in Quran interpretation, and a second rate diploma in politics from an unknown institute. Absolutely no experience in political discourse yet he is deemed qualified for this position in these times of turmoil.
I will not speak of sheikhs, lest the “infidelity” militia gets hold of me!
Fact #12: He has claimed that the opposition is comprised of a handful of people from a scheming underground world. The speech was delivered on stage to his supporters, ignoring the hundreds of thousands of protesters in Tahrir on the same day.
Fact #13: He issued a law for the “protection of the revolution”, which subtly oppresses freedom of speech and grants the prosecutor general the power to detain people for six months without court order.
Remember: the prosecutor general was appointed by him!
Fact #14: Six decisions, between presidential decrees and government decisions, were issued only to be later retracted for either a lack of practicality or being in fact against the law.
Fact #15: During his electoral campaign, Morsy made a deal with opposition to include revolutionary figures in the cabinet and as advisers. Cabinet had none of those, and most of his advisors have repeatedly confirmed that he rarely seeks their council, and when he does, he never uses it.
Fact#16: Despite his promises of self-sustained economic development, the president has asked for loans and aid from every country he visited… and he has visited too many countries.
Fact #17: Even though his greatest enemies in his pre-president era were the US and Israel, he has stressed that he wants to be “real good friends to the US”, and called the Israeli PM a “loyal friend” after he won the election.
Of course, politics is to blame!
Fact #18: This is the icing on the cake: we have the president vowing to safeguard freedom of speech, while television channels are being shut and TV show-hosts and journalists are accused of insulting the president.
In just a few months, His Excellency made Foreign Policy’s list of the world’s five worst presidents.
I keep remembering my mother’s advice when I was a child: If you want people to respect you, do not put yourself in a position where they have no choice but to disrespect you.
