Earlier in this month, when the military put President Morsi in custody in Egypt, this writer, though an outsider, wrote in these columns that it was wrong for the army to do so. On 25 July, two Middle East specialists of Japan have published their views on the takeover in a Japanese newspaper. What follows is the summary of these views.
One of them is of the view that the collapse of the Morsi government is the result of the people's nation-wide movement. As many as 23 million have signed the demand for Morsi's resignation. The Western media call it a "military coup", but it would be more appropriate to say that the national movement on a gigantic scale has caused the collapse.
The anti-Morsi movement gathered momentum as the poverty and unemployment among the people was left unrelieved, a Constitution of an undemocratic character was imposed upon the people, and there was a repression of the women's and workers' movement. It was a regime which tends to strangle the freedom of press and association in the name of a religion.
The other one has expressed a rather different view. Here, the military takeover was characterized as a "coup in haste", though it was welcomed by many people. Some ways and means of resolving the crisis peacefully, on the basis of the 23 million signatures, might well have been found out.
The army got aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood immediately after the revolution two and a half years ago. But as the Brotherhood tried to put their men in the army, police and bureaucracy, and the general public became dissatisfied with the President and began to demand democratization, the army then became their allies this time. But 30% of the people are still supporting the Brotherhood, which is capable of securing the largest number of seats in the next general elections. The greater difficulty is how to place the army under the civilian control.
The difference between the two may be subtle, but is very much worth exploring. Meanwhile this writer would abide by what he humbly wrote on 4 July.
One of them is of the view that the collapse of the Morsi government is the result of the people's nation-wide movement. As many as 23 million have signed the demand for Morsi's resignation. The Western media call it a "military coup", but it would be more appropriate to say that the national movement on a gigantic scale has caused the collapse.
The anti-Morsi movement gathered momentum as the poverty and unemployment among the people was left unrelieved, a Constitution of an undemocratic character was imposed upon the people, and there was a repression of the women's and workers' movement. It was a regime which tends to strangle the freedom of press and association in the name of a religion.
The other one has expressed a rather different view. Here, the military takeover was characterized as a "coup in haste", though it was welcomed by many people. Some ways and means of resolving the crisis peacefully, on the basis of the 23 million signatures, might well have been found out.
The army got aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood immediately after the revolution two and a half years ago. But as the Brotherhood tried to put their men in the army, police and bureaucracy, and the general public became dissatisfied with the President and began to demand democratization, the army then became their allies this time. But 30% of the people are still supporting the Brotherhood, which is capable of securing the largest number of seats in the next general elections. The greater difficulty is how to place the army under the civilian control.
The difference between the two may be subtle, but is very much worth exploring. Meanwhile this writer would abide by what he humbly wrote on 4 July.
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