A coup is a n unexpected, aggressive, and illegitimate abduction of authority from a government (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016). Different countries have experienced coups, some of which result to the mass killings of people. When a certain group of people come together to arrange and plan on how to overthrow the government, they risk causing violence and destabilization of the country’s economy. Besides, coups also pose a risk to social order (Grinin, & Korotayev, 2014). Egypt, for instance, has experienced a number of attempted coups in that rebels come together and try to remove a sitting president in disregard of constitutional provisions. In our discussion, we shall focus on the last one in a series of Egyptian coups. Further, we shall establish the basis and the history of this coup, the parties involved and will also identify what measures or interventions were taken to resolve the conflict so as to come up with a unified agreement.
Origins and history of the conflict
The Egyptian revolution of 1952 or the 23 July Revolution, started on date 23rd July 1952, facilitated and led by the Free Officers Movement . This was a set of army officers as led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and Muhammad Naguib . The rebellion was originally meant or intended at overthrowing King Faruq . Nevertheless, the association contained many other political ambitions. The movement primarily championed the abolishment of the constitutional aristocracies and monarch ies of Sudan and Egypt ( Grinin, & Korotayev, 2014). That was meant to ensure that there was the establishment of a republican state and also to put to an end the British occupation and rulings of the country and also to ensure that Sudan obtained its independence since at time it was jointly governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium . The revolutionary government obtained and made use of the anti-imperialist agenda ,which was a staunchly nationalist stance which later came to be articulated primarily through international non-alignment and the Arab nationalism ,.
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The insurgency faced instant intimidations from Western imperial powers, chiefly the United Kingdom and France. The United Kingdom had been in Egypt since the year 1882. The two countries were worried of the increased support for independence and therefore, never condoned or allowed the formation of any kind of movement or association. The continuing cases of war with Israel deepened the challenge, given that the movement amplified Egypt's previously tough support for Palestinian independence. In spite of the massive killings and lose of many Egyptian military officers, the perception of the war was that Egypt had emerged victorious, given that for the first time since 1875 the Egyptians were able to control the Suez Canal again. Foreign control of the Suez Canal had previously been seen by the Egyptians as a national humiliation (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016).
Extensive agrarian reform ation and industrialization plans and programs were initiated during the first decade and a half of the rebellion resulting to the development of infrastructure and urbanization . In the1960s, Arab socialism was the most prevalent theme across Egypt. As such, it resulted in the transformation of Egypt into a central placed economy . The fear that the Western-nations could support and sponsor counter-revolution, household spiritual radicalism, possible socialist penetration, and the disagreements with Israel were the main reasons behind the restrictions on political antagonism or opposition , and the ban of multi-parties. These limitations on political doings remained intact until 1970, when some of the policies were reversed.
The process that occasions the reversal of some of these policies since then by different leaders has resulted aroused mixed feelings and consequently has led to a number of coups in Egypt. A referendum proposing or on constitutional reforms was held in the year 2011. A majority of the ordinary Egyptians voted for the constitutions and this marked the start of democratic elections Egypt. In May of2012, Mohammed Morsi was democratically elected to be the president of Egypt. However, the reforms introduced by Morsi’s Islamist government, caused a lot of public outrage, seeing as Egypt has for long been a secularist state. The Military dissolved the democratically elected parliament in order to maintain social order (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016). The Supporters of Morsi, occupied two large camps and vowed to remain there until their president was brought or reinstated back into power. On 3rd July 2013, the Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi formulated and led an alliance to take out the President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi , from office. He also suspended the Egyptian constitution . The main reason for the 2012 revolution is for the improvements of the economic and social reforms (Ketchley & Biggs, 2016).
Parties and actors in the conflict
The Egyptian army opposed the government and its proposal of change to the Egyptian constitution. The shift came after the military's provocation for the government to "resolve its differences" with opponents during the period of widespread national protests . The military detained Muslim Brotherhood leaders with inclusion of president Morsi. It immediately affirmed Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt , Adly Mansour , as the acting president of Egypt. The declaration resulted in massive clashes and demonstrations involving the opponents and supporters of the shift in government all over Egypt. The military's act was supported by the opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei , Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb .
Different international reactions arose regarding the military’s move. Most Arabic leaders supported or indicated neutrality when asked on their views regarding the matter. The only Arabic country that strongly condemned the act was Tunisia , which was not in support of the military’s actions. The United States of America, a country believed to be the number one defender of democracy, didn’t refer this act as a coup. Morsi’s removal from office, however, was condemned by many other states, considering the regulations set by the African Union concerning the disruption of legitimate rule within any associate state. Egypt was later expelled from the African Union (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016).
The police killed many people, especially those who were against Morsi, which furthered the civilian population even further and fuelled more intense demonstrations. The security agencies or forces killed many people when they raided the two camps in Cairo believed to have been occupied by Morsi supporters. According to human rights activists, it was the largest killing to ever have been recognized with hundreds of people being killed at the same day (Ayanian & Tausch, 2016).
Attempts to Resolve the Conflict and their Outcomes
The efforts of using and applying different mechanisms to ensure that there is a reduction or a complete elimination of the conflict may either succeed or fail. Some of the initiatives that tried to resolve the conflict including foreign, didn’t yield positive results. Before the clear in was done on the two camps the people who were in those camps were approach and asked to leave but they did not agree and therefore the police were forced to push them out and that resulted into further killings and injuries. Immediately the people heard of what had happened in Cairo, especially the killing of Muslim brotherhood supporters, t hey took to the streets spreading the violence even further, for instance in Giza, the mob attacked the police station. In southern Egypt, several Coptic Christian churches were put into flames by the Morsi supporters (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016).
The availability of the sustained efforts by the United States institute of peace may help in promoting peaceful democratic changes without the use of violence. Its aim is to promote and ensure that there is good relationship between the Coptic and the Muslims. The organization also extensively conducted or held conferences and workshops, educating the people the importance of having democracy that the freedom to choose the leaders they want. Through such efforts, the issue of violence may reduce tremendously reduce. And the citizens slowly understand that being a Coptic or a Muslim is not an issue that should make them fight or develop enmity (Ayanian & Tausch, 2016).
The application of curfews was meant to force all the people to remain indoors so that no one gets influenced by the other to engage in criminal activities. The effort inserted by the military officers to ensure that the curfews were reinstated failed to work immediately the people heard what had in Cairo. They swore to go out and demonstrate even if there was a curfew. That is not a good way of solving the conflict.
Issues that Provide Impediments to Resolution
Signing of a compressive political deal between the opposers and the supporters of Morsi, might be an ideal process that might help in lowering cases of political violence in Egypt. The two parties: the National Salvation Front and the Brotherhood by Morsi, if they come together and agree to work together (Gidengil & Karakoç, 2016). The two parties can work together ending cases of coups which usually result due to the mistrust and misunderstandings, matters that can be resolved within a short time. If that happens then the affected economy may get back to its normal route (Grinin, & Korotayev, 2014).
The efforts to hold dialogue between the two parties failed since each party maintained their firm preconditions to a fruitful negotiation. Whilst the opposition desires for Egypt to uphold secularist ideas, the Muslim brotherhood champions for religion to merged into state. Therefore, it’s technically impossible for these two parties to work together.
For the country to resolve such a challenge, the leaders must understand that with continued fighting and disagreements, the citizens and their country gets ruined economically and socially. The continued conflicts lower tourism, the visitors from a foreign country may not want to go to a country where there are wrangles due to the political differences. Therefore, inserting a joint effort to see the end of the conflict is important for the country’s economy.
The country may also conduct mass training and seminars to educate the citizens on the importance of existing as one people of one nation. They should make the people understand that involvement in violence is not a good way of resolving conflicts rather it is through sitting down and discussing issues that an eminent solution may be achieved. They therefore should not allow their leaders to use them in committing unlawful acts like destroying or the destruction of properties or killing their fellow citizens based on their political or religious backgrounds (Grinin, & Korotayev, 2014).
To be able to resolve the conflict, the government should have identified the reasons that resulted into the coup attempt. After identifying, careful strategies on how those reforms can be implemented should be done. The two parties must be allowed to participate in the process of setting up the strategies. That will help in regulating or diminish the probability of developing mistrust that may later cause violence (Asseburg, & Wimmen, 2016).
Another way of ensuring that there is peace and unity is through the monitoring of all the media houses and social media so that no one spreads negative messages that can accelerate or cause war. Through that, the government will be able to arrest those who attempt to break the law and ensure that the people coexist in harmony even if they belong to a different political party (Gidengil & Karakoç, 2016).
As discussed above, it is evident that poor democracy can be the reason behind wars and general social disorder, as witnessed in most parts or countries across the world. Before any person is evicted or asked to leave office, either by legal or illegal means, that person ought to be afforded the right of reply against the raised allegations. The arrangement of a coup may not be the best option as that may cause a lot of destructions of infrastructure and of livelihoods. Therefore, the solutions to political disagreements ought to engage peaceful mechanisms. Appropriate legal procedures must be applied in case of a desired removal of a sitting president from power. People should understand that the goal of a good citizen id to see that there is a steady and strong government that can result in physical improvements on a daily basis. From above we can see that Egypt is still struggling to define clearly the terms of a democratic nation.
References
Asseburg, M., & Wimmen, H. (2016). Dynamics of transformation, elite change and new social mobilization in the Arab World. Mediterranean Politics , 21 (1), 1-22.
Ayanian, A. H., & Tausch, N. (2016). How risk perception shapes collective action intentions in repressive contexts: A study of Egyptian activists during the 2013 post‐coup uprising. British Journal of Social Psychology .
Gidengil, E., & Karakoç, E. (2016). Which matters more in the electoral success of Islamist (successor) parties–religion or performance? The Turkish case. Party Politics , 22 (3), 325-338.
Grinin, L. Y., & Korotayev, A. V. (2014). Revolution vs. Democracy (revolution and conterrevolution in Egypt). Polis. Political Studies , 3 (3), 139-154.
Ketchley, N., & Biggs, M. (2016). The Educational Contexts of Islamist Activism: Elite Students and Religious Institutions in Egypt. In Annual Conference American Political Science Association .
