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Tag: Egypt

  • Nigeria not Egypt, says Kalu

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu has said Nigeria and Egypt does not share the same political history.

    Kalu said: “We are quite different. Egyptians are used to wars and military rule. Nigerians are not. We only fought a Civil War. For the North Africans, they have seen invasions and battles.”

    He said because deposed President Mohammed Morsi withdrew a suit against journalists and imposed a state of emergency in three cities, before the military struck some Nigerians are drawing a comparism.

    “That I can understand. However, from 1952 when the Society of Free Officers toppled King Farouk, all Egyptian leaders until Morsi were of military background.”

    Gen. Mohammed Najuib, Col.Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat were part of the revolution. Hosni Mubarak, a fighter pilot, also headed the Air Force. It is not the same in Nigeria,” Kalu pointed out.

    “Nigeria has seen 14 years of civil rule since 1999, and our soldiers do not really have the Mamluk mentality. The Nigerian military also love democracy.”

     

  • ACN condemns ‘unconstitutional’ change of govt in Egypt

    ACN condemns ‘unconstitutional’ change of govt in Egypt

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday described as a blow to democracy last week’s “unconstitutional” change of government in Egypt.

    In a statement in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it does not matter how popular the public protests that led the military to make the change was, what happened in Egypt was a coup d’etat which must be condemned.

    “Democracy remains the best form of government known to man, and in order to grow it, it must be nurtured. But if every time there are protests in a democracy, the military moves in to effect a change of government, then democracy will never grow.

    “Democracy has some universal tenets, which include the fact that free and fair election is the only means of getting to power and the only way of losing it. This means that even if people make a wrong choice, they are stuck with it until the next elections, unless in countries where you have a recall mechanism. Some may describe this as a drawback, but there can be no other way if democracy is to be properly practised,” it said.

    ACN said while many Britons and Americans disagreed with their governments over the Iraq war and held several public protests to vent their disappointment, that did not cause the military in both countries to push their democratically-elected governments out of power, as was the case in Egypt.

    It also recalled that during former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s illness, the party (ACN) and a number of civil society groups insisted that the constitution must be followed, as many in Yar’Adua’s inner caucus plotted endlessly for him to hold on to power, even when it became clear that he could no longer function effectively.

    The party said while many in Egypt may not like the Muslim Brotherhood or be happy with the government of President Mohammed Morsi, the fact remains that they both won an election that was globally adjudged to be free and fair.

    ACN hailed the African Union (AU) for suspending Egypt’s membership of the continental body in the wake of the coup, saying it shows that it (AU) is serious about the adherence to its Constitutive Act, which prohibits an unconstitutional change of government.

    The party also said the Nigerian government did the right thing by promptly condemning the action of the Egyptian military and calling for the immediate restoration of democracy in the North African country.

  • Egypt’s army permits peaceful protests

    Egypt’s army permits peaceful protests

    Egypt’s army has said it will guarantee the right to peaceful protest ahead of the traditional day for major rallies, BBC reports.

    Muslim Brotherhood supporters are expected to rally on Friday after the army deposed President Mohammed Morsi.

    New interim leader Adly Mahmud Mansour, the top judge of Egypt’s constitutional court, has pledged to hold elections based on “the genuine people’s will.”

    Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said it refused to co-operate with the new regime.

    Mr. Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, is in detention, as well as senior figures in the Brotherhood – the Islamist group of which he is a member. Arrests warrants have been for some 300 others.

    Early on Friday, one soldier was reported killed after Islamist militants attacked military and police checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula with rockets and mortar fire.

    Security checkpoints at al-Arish airport, near the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip, and a police station in Rafah were targeted, officials said.

    Sinai has seen a series of militant attacks on security installations and oil pipelines over the past two years and it is unclear whether the latest attacks are linked to President Morsi’s removal.

  • Obama needs to support democracy, oppose a coup in Egypt

    Obama needs to support democracy, oppose a coup in Egypt

    ONE OF THE FEW things that has been clear about the tumultuous situation in Egypt this week is the plummeting prestige and influence of the United States. Anti-government demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square have been carrying placards and chanting slogans denouncing the U.S. ambassador; meanwhile senior government officials, anticipating a possible military coup, are already blaming the Obama administration for green-lighting it. A country that for decades has been the the United States’ closest Arab ally — and one of the largest recipients in the world of U.S. aid — appears united only in its disregard and contempt for Washington.

    The Obama administration is not entirely responsible for this situation: In Egypt’s polarized and chaotic political environment, conspiracy theories and false perceptions of the United States have become commonplace. But the administration has helped to foster the growing anti-Americanism — if not the growing chaos in Egypt — through its mishandling of the Islamist government of Mohamed Morsi. For months, as the Morsi government has taken steps to consolidate power, quash critics and marginalize independent civil society groups, President Obama and his top aides have been largely silent in public. No effort was made to use the leverage of U.S. aid to compel a change of policy. Instead, the government was lauded for its help in preserving peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and U.S. policy focused on helping Egypt win aid from the International Monetary Fund.

    An attempt by the ambassador in Cairo, Anne W. Patterson, to “set the record straight” in a public speech two weeks ago only exacerbated the problem. Ms. Patterson bluntly questioned the opposition’s strategy of attempting to organize a popular uprising to overthrow the government, saying “my government and I are deeply skeptical” that “street action will produce better results than elections.” She added: “Egypt needs stability to get its economic house in order.” That could have been an appropriate message if the ambassador balanced it by addressing with equal directness the government’s quasi-authoritarian measures, such as its plans to strip non-government organizations of funding or its attempts to impose one-sided election rules. But there was no mention of Mr. Morsi’s excesses.

    On Monday, Mr. Obama belatedly called Mr. Morsi to say that “democracy is about more than elections” and encouraged him to be “responsive” to the opposition, according to a White House statement. He said publicly that the United States was not taking sides in the standoff. But while saying that “the current crisis can only be resolved through a political process,” the president and administration spokesmen did not take an unambiguous stand against a military coup.

    This was another omission: The White House should make clear in its public statements as well as in private communications that Egypt’s armed forces will put U.S. military aid at risk if they remove a democratically-elected government by force or seek to reconstitute the autocratic regime that misruled Egypt until a year ago. A military takeover will not end Egypt’s political crisis, and the United States should neither be complicit in one, nor allow itself to be blamed for it.

    – Washington Post

  • Egypt as incorrigible scapegoat

    Egypt as incorrigible scapegoat

    “For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: Military coup,” —— Essam al-Haddad (President Mohammed Morsi’s foreign policy adviser on his Face book page.)

    Just some few days ago, Egyptians witnessed a new political reality when their military overthrew the country’s first democratically elected president whose government was only a year in office. President Mohammed Morsi’s government was a consequence of a 2011 Arab Spring uprising in Tahrir Square that upstaged the dictatorship of embattled and ailing Hosni Mubarak. Tahrir Square is the epicentre of the globally famous 2011 uprising.

    As customary in every coup d’état situation, the new military hegemony suspended the constitution while the head of the constitutional court has been sworn-in as interim president to lead a ‘temporary civilian government’ sequel to a new transition to electoral democracy. The absurdity of the entire process in Egypt is how to reconcile a scenario where a country with a suspended constitution will be led by Adly Mansour, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court. This is another military concocted aberration that manifested some days after President Barack Obama left the African soil after an official visit to some countries in the continent. The question: Can an army-installed administration lead to real democracy?

    What the military has done in Egypt is synonymous with what the military in Nigeria were used to doing in their aberrant hey days in government. The Babangida administration at the twilight of its reign came up with a contraption called Interim National Government(ING) that was headed by a Babangida hand-picked person and that man was mischievously surrounded by inordinately ambitious military generals that included late General Sani Abacha. This scenario is the type that is unfurling in Egypt today and its unpalatable consequence awaits Egypt in her new found system that in political parlance is designated diarchy. This abracadabra is being done at the expense of genuine democracy. How forgetful are Egyptians with an ambitious military that were in-charge when Hosni Mubarak was removed but could not do anything meaningful with power until global outcry compelled them to conduct an election in which Morsi was democratically elected as president by the people.

    Whether in Egypt, Senegal or Nigeria, the military institution is the same. They are always very greedy and tenacious when it comes to the issue of power. Yet, our people in the African continent have refused to learn from history as they erroneously see their interventions in power from the messianic prisms. And in tandem with people’s regrettable reactions during such periods, jubilant opposition in their millions celebrated the latest Egypt’s putsch with fireworks at Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where men and women reportedly danced with shouts of “God is great” and “Long live Egypt” renting the air. Nigerians once toed this path. However, while this was going on, President Morsi’s Islamist supporters equally embarked on rallies in support of their ousted leader said to be under house arrest at a Presidential Guard facility. These noticeable divisive power blocs may for a long time mar the peace of Egypt.

    Quite typical of the tyrannical military during such misplaced interventions, the Egyptian army took control of state media and sealed up Television stations operated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood TV station and Islamist TV networks forcefully went blank. Security forces also stormed the studio of Al-Jazeera Misr Mubasher and detained the staffers there. This is just a tip of an unpleasant appetiser that further clampdown of the media is imminent.

    Yours sincerely agrees that Egyptians have a right to despise a situation where rather than squarely tackle their country’s economic woes, Morsi was reportedly busy concentrating power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood and others. But is military coup that has bastardised the polity of virtually all African countries the solution? Is it not apt to ask whether there was an external influence that goaded the military to upstage Morsi? The question becomes pertinent especially when president Barrack Obama of the United States (the US being Egypt’s military’s greatest ally since the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace accords) visited the African continent? What an ironical coincidence! Why then is it so difficult for the US government to call a spade by its original name by publicly acknowledging that what happened in Egypt was nothing but a coup d’etate against the electorate of that Arab country.

    The hypocrisy of the US clamour for global democracy would become glaring if it could not muster the desired courage that is necessary for her to suspend the huge yearly foreign aid of $1.3 billion in military and $250million in economic assistance to Egypt as a form of sanction. Afterall, the US law permits the country to give aid to nations that are democratically governed-not one administered by military coupists and few hand-picked collaborative civilians such as Mohammed El-Baradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency; Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, a top Muslim cleric, Mahmoud Badr, one of two representatives of Tamarod, that youthful group that organised the current uprising and Coptic Pope Tawadros II, as well as opposition activists and some members of the ultraconservative Salafi movements.

    The precedent had been set by the US in this regard. When Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in June 2009, Washington temporarily suspended aid, but did not cut about $30 million in assistance for that country until more than two months later. In April 2012, the United States suspended at least $13 million of its $140 million in annual aid to Mali following a coup in the West African nation. That of Egypt should not be different until Morsi returns to power to complete his term in that Arab country.

    What is unfolding in Egypt today is the beginning of a chain of events, the end of which no one can predict. The world should keep tab on that country’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi that announced the coup to see whether indeed he or one of his close military allies would not forcefully transmute into a civilian president. The way he dished out ultimatum of 48 hours to defiant 62-year-old Morsi to relinquish the legitimate mandate given him by 51.7 percent of Egyptians in June 2012 was despicable. It is sad that a democratically elected government, against the provisions of the constitution, can be removed via military ultimatum. This is a sad commentary in not only Egypt but Africa’s political history.

    Military men that remove elected officials of government are nothing but coupists, and contrary to El-Sissi’s conjured postulations, can not be truly acting on the will of the people to clear the way for a new leadership in Egypt or in any other country. What manner of leadership can a military leadership give birth to? The sad Nigerian military example is a classical lesson that incorrigible Egypt is not ready to learn from.

  • Egypt to swear in interim leader

    The top judge of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, is to be sworn in as interim leader, hours after the army ousted President Mohammed Morsi and put him under house arrest, BBC reports.

    Army chief Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced the move on Wednesday, in what Mr. Morsi said was a military coup.

    Gen. Sisi said Mr Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected leader, had “failed to meet the demands of the people”.

    The move comes after days of mass rallies against the Islamist president.

    Protesters accused him and the Muslim Brotherhood of pursuing an Islamist agenda for the country and of failing to tackle Egypt’s economic problems.

    The BBC says the president had appeared to protesters to be economically out of his depth, and had not given them the reassurances they wanted that he could address rampant poverty.

    Some 50 people have died since the latest unrest began on Sunday.

    Mr. Morsi’s opponents celebrated through the night in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, after the army announced it had suspended the Islamist-backed constitution – approved by a referendum in 2012 – and pledged to hold new elections.

    But a number of people were killed as clashes erupted overnight between Morsi supporters and the security forces in Cairo and Alexandria.

    Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for Mr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, told the BBC the ousted leader had been put under house arrest and the “entire presidential team” was in detention.

     

  • Egypt’s military ousts President Morsi

    Egypt’s military ousts President Morsi

    Egypt’s top military commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has announced  the take over of the country’s government by the  army.

    In a late Wednesday broadcast, El-Sissi said President Mohammed Morsi has been replaced by the Chief  Justice of the Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour  as the interim head of state.

    The General said the country’s constitution has been temporarily suspended following  Morsi’s  failure  to meet the demands of the people.

  • Military threatens coup as protests spread in Egypt

    Military threatens coup as protests spread in Egypt

    Thousands of protesters erupted into cheers after Egypt’s military leaders warned that they would intervene if the president failed to resolve a political crisis within 48 hours.

    The military threat set the stage for a coup a day after millions of Egyptians thronged the country’s streets demanding the president’s resignation.

    The statement came hours after eight people were killed in Cairo as rioters ransacked the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is President Mohammed Morsi’s power base. Protesters also regrouped yesterday in the capital’s central Tahrir Square and in front of the president’s Ittihadiya Palace for a second day of demonstrations, which appeared to be some of the largest in Egypt’s history

    The headquarters of another political party, Al Wasat, was also showed being torched, allegedly by anti-government protesters.

    “If the people’s demands are not met, the military, which is forced to act according to its role and duty, will have to disclose its own future plan,” said Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Egypt’s defence minister and the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in a televised address. “These steps will include discussions among all political powers, specifically the youth, who were and continue to be the spark of the revolution. No one party will be excluded or marginalised.”

    Gen. Al Sisi didn’t say what kind of “solution” it expected Mr. Morsi to provide or say what he planned by way of an “intervention.” But the general cautioned that the military wouldn’t become politically involved as it did in February 2011, when it assumed power after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

    Gen. Al Sisi said the armed forces would continue to “supervise the situation” and “support the people.” Minutes after his speech ended, five military helicopters carrying large banners representing each branch of the armed forces flew over the protests, eliciting another round of ecstatic cheers.

    The ultimatum ratcheted up pressure on Egypt’s first elected president, one year after he assumed power in elections that the military itself organised.

    The presidency remained quiet in the hours following the statement. But members of the political opposition—many of whom had said they didn’t welcome military intervention—rejected negotiations and greeted the decision as a sign that the military intended to oversee the president’s departure.

    “When you praise the demands of the people and then declare 48 hours, I think that the message is clear,” said Khaled Dawoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front, an umbrella group that helped lead Sunday’s protests. “I hope that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t mess it up.”

    “There is no reconciliation with a president who faced opposition and demands for his resignation by over 20 million people,” Mr. Dawoud said, offering his own estimate for the size of Sunday’s protests.

    “If Morsi wants to talk to us as an Egyptian citizen, we are open for any discussions,” said Mahmoud Badr, a spokesman for Tamarod. “But if he thinks he can talk to us as an official, then we would like to confirm that he has lost any legitimacy he might have had.”

    Like Mr. Morsi’s year-long rule, the military’s 16-month stint in power after Mr. Mubarak stepped down in February 2011 saw frequent, often violent protests and economic decline.

    Also yesterday, 11 ministers submitted their resignations as protesters continued to demand the removal of the government. But President Morsi and Prime Minister Hisham Kandil refused to accept their resignations.

    “A stable and secure Egypt is crucial for regional stability and security,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday through a spokesman. “The world is watching Egypt and what Egypt does with its transition will have a significant impact on other transition countries in the region.”

     

  • IMF team arrive in Cairo for talks on $4.8 bln loan

    IMF team arrive in Cairo for talks on $4.8 bln loan

    A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has arrived in Egypt for talks on a 4.8 billion dollars loan.

    The loan is to ease an economic crisis in the most populous Arab country, state news agency MENA said on Wednesday.

    After two years of political upheaval, foreign currency reserves have fallen to critically low levels, threatening Egypt’s ability to buy wheat, of which it is the world’s biggest importer, and fuel.

    President Mohamed Morsi’s government signed a deal with the IMF last November but postponed ratification in December in the face of unrest triggered by a political row over the extent of his powers.

    The IMF delegation arrived on Tuesday for a visit lasting several days, MENA said.

    In the talks, Cairo must convince the IMF that it is serious about reforms aimed at boosting growth and curbing an unaffordable budget deficit.

    That implies tax hikes and politically risky cuts in the generous system of state subsidies for fuel and bread.

    An IMF deal has eluded Egypt for years, in spite of on-off talks by first the army-led government and now Morsi’s.

    Economists say the IMF appears to question whether Egypt has the capacity to enact reforms, and doubts that the country’s political turmoil has done nothing to ease.

    Just before the visit, the government announced an increase in the price of subsidised cooking gas.

    it, however, postponed plans to ration subsidised fuel using smart cards until July 1 and some reports say that date may be pushed back.

    The Egyptian pound has lost nine per cent against the dollar this year and is trading even lower on the black market, driving up inflation.

    Shortages meanwhile threaten to exacerbate tension in the street, where Morsi’s opponents have been airing political grievances in protests that frequently turn violent.

    The government hopes to have a loan agreement finalised by the IMF’s spring meetings, holding from April 16 to 21,

    Finance Minister Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy said. IMF officials have not given a timeline.

    Seeking to protect the Egyptian pound, the central bank has lifted interest rates, increasing the cost of borrowing  needed to finance a state deficit that will hit 12.3 per cent of GDP without reforms.

    A medium-term economic plan submitted to the IMF envisages cutting the deficit to 9.5 per cent in the 2013 to 2014 fiscal years beginning in July.

    The financial crunch has forced the government to cut back on fuel imports, leading to shortages that have caused transport disruptions and power cuts.

    To ease shortages, Cairo has said it aims to import oil from Iraq and neighbouring Libya while paying off some of the money it owes to foreign energy firms.

    Egypt has also cut back on wheat imports, running down grain reserves in the hope that a bumper harvest will be enough to feed its 84 million populations.

    Without a deal, Cairo could still limp along for several more months, but it would not be comfortable.

  • Team Egypt, Ethiopia surprise me

    Team Egypt, Ethiopia surprise me

    THE Nigeria Head Coach, Augustine Odiah has expressed surprise at the rate in which Teams Egypt and Ethiopia are measuring up at the African Youth Athletics Championship, especially in some events he never expected them to have performed better.

    Augustine who said he hopes the dope control unit are doing their job told sports journalists that he is optimistic that Team Nigeria will clinch first position in gold medals owing to the rate which Nigeria has been performing.

    He opined that secondary schools in the country should be encouraged to be organizing athletics competition for young athletes to be discovered for future events.

    The Coach commended the encouragement of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) President, Mr. Solomon Ogba to Team Nigeria, saying that the team will top the over all medal table before the end of the event.

    Also speaking the Coach of Team Uganda, Issamat Jimmy Vancy said their athletes have been trying hard, expressing the hope that they will win more medals.