Egyptian Revolution

Millions of people flood the streets of Egypt,

demanding for President Mohammad Morsis
resignation. After only being in office for one year,
the people of Egypt demand change from Morsi and
the Muslim Brotherhood organization.
Similar to the protests against Morsi, two years
prior, citizens of Egypt were packed in the streets
also, except calling for the resignation of Dictator
Hosni
Mubarak.
They
protested
against
poverty,

unemployment, and government corruption. On

February 11th, Mubarak announced his resignation
and the next day, people flooded the streets in
celebration.
After
Mubaraks
overthrow,
the
Muslim
Brotherhood created the
FJP, or the Freedom and
Justice Party and won
almost half of the Peoples
Assembly. Their candidate
Muhammad Morsi was
elected president, the first
democratically
chosen
leader of Egypt. He
promised to build a democratic, civil and modern
state. But skepticism and soon, resentment of
Morsis intentions for the country resulted in
millions of people protesting.

What happened
When elected, Morsi revealed his far-reaching plan
to improve the lives of citizens, which was called
the Renaissance Plan. He promised to complete
his goals within the first 100 days of his presidency,
which most of which failed. This caused outrage
towards Morsi. This discontentment only increased
when he attempted to reconvene a dissolved lower
chamber of parliament, which was writing a new
constitution.
Another problem with Morsi was his attitude
towards protestors. Known for his acceptance of
police brutality, many protestors have been killed
and never investigated under Morsis rule.
Then, Morsi started to strip government officials of
their job, taking their power for himself.
When Morsi appointed Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to be
the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces,
the public grew wary and afraid due to speculations
about Al-Sisi being an Islamist sympathizer.
Additionally, Morsi got rid of the
previous constitution declaration
that approved public referendum
and declared he had the power to
appoint whomever he wanted.
Unlike the 2011 revolution, the
people of Egypt protest peacefully,
believing the president will resign
quickly. Despite this belief, Morsi repeatedly argues
that he has not been given enough time to show his
value to the country. But by the size of the protests,
anti-Morsi demonstrators obviously disagree.

What columnists say

Columnist Thomas L. Freidman from the New York
Times comments on Egypts revolutions. In two and
a half years, Egypt has had three revolutions. The
problem, Freidman says, is that the Muslim
Brotherhood has to admit that it badly messed up.
The only way for Egypt to get back on track is for
the Brotherhood to stop fighting with the military
and re-integrate back into politics.
From the Washington Post, Ahmed Maher, and
many others, agree that the revolution in 2011 was
stolen by the Brotherhood. The people of Egypt
sparked a revolution and fought for a new beginning
from Hosni Mubaraks terrible reign, but instead
their victory was taken by Morsi and the
Brotherhood. Life in Egypt did not improve through
Morsi, as many hoped it would. When asked about
the condition of Egypt, Maher said that freedom of
expression is gone. Elections are puppet shows and
everyone knows the outcome before its even over.
Egypts poor economic and political condition has
only grown worse through Morsis presidency.

Impacts of Revolution
The multiple revolutions Egypt has had over the last
two and a half years has impacted its economy
greatly. The reign of Hosni and Morsi have ruined
Egypts lower and middle class, leaving the citizens
impoverished and illiterate. This was the reason the
youth of Egypt flooded the streets, demanding
justice and freedom. Post-revolution was when the
most damage was done to Egypts economy.
In 2010, Egypts growth rate was estimated to be at
5.7%. After the revolution, it was estimated to fall to

3.5% due to the

imbalance
of
Egypts payment
to
economic
sectors,
like
tourism,
and
exports
and
remittances.
Tourism is a
major mean of
income and after
the
revolution,
tourism dropped
60%. Due to the
political unrest, Egypt lost over 2 million dollars
from tourist revenues. Additionally, Egypt has a
high budget deficit, a high debt rate, a high
unemployment rate, a high poverty rate, and a low
standard of living (The Egyptian Revolution and
the Post Socio-Economic Impact). Power cuts
reached an all-time high and moreover, the shortages
of fuel was so great that people had to wait for hours
just to get gas for their car. Most people could not
read or write, most did not have jobs and overall, the
youth of Egypt felt cheated out of their fairly earned
money due to wealthy businessmen gaining a larger
share of the money Egypt makes. The economy was
the slowest in years during Morsis short ruling
period.
In the end, Morsi was overthrown by the military
and was tried for a long list of crimes for not
upholding the needs of the Egyptian citizens.
Written by Rachel Lin