Can Egypt Transition to a Modern Day Democracy?

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Can Egypt Transition to a Modern Day Democracy? Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Honors Theses Lee Honors College 2-1-2012 Revolution and Democratization: Can Egypt Transition to a Modern Day Democracy? Kristin M. Horitski Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Horitski, Kristin M., "Revolution and Democratization: Can Egypt Transition to a Modern Day Democracy?" (2012). Honors Theses. 745. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/745 This Honors Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Lee Honors College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Horitski 1 Revolution and Democratization: Can Egypt Transition to a Modern Day Democracy? Kristin Horitski Honors Thesis Horitski 2 On January 25, 2011, the world’s attention was transfixed by Egypt. The people took to the streets in a series of demonstrations and marches to protest the long-time reign of President Hosni Mubarak and demand his immediate resignation. While the protests started out as peaceful acts of civil disobedience, the Mubarak government’s response was not. Police and security forces used conventional techniques such as tear gas and water cannons on the protesters, before turning to terror tactics such as snipers, live ammunition, and thugs and criminals who terrorized the people. A couple days into the uprising, Mubarak deployed the army, but they were welcomed by the protesters and did not interfere in confrontations between the police and protesters. After abolishing his cabinet and making several other moves to try to hang onto power, it was finally over for Mubarak. Fourteen days after the uprising began, Mubarak stepped down turning power over to the military, ending 30 years of his authoritarian rule and beginning a period of uncertainty that left the world questioning: will Egypt be able to transition to a democracy with free and fair elections, political parties, and an actively involved civil society or will it be drawn back to the world of authoritarian regimes? The Road to Revolution Revolutions do not happen by chance and Egypt is no exception. They are the culmination of years of injustices and mistreatment by the regime, as well as, events that serve as a catalyst for change. In the case of Egypt, revolution was the result of repression and mistreatment by the regime and finally a spark of hope by events happening in surrounding countries and the people of Egypt ready to through off the old regime and start a new, democratic era. Horitski 3 Mubarak ascended to the Presidency after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat by radical Islamic members of the army in 1981 and has been consolidating power ever since. The first move Mubarak made to tighten his hold was to declare a state of emergency and the laws under this state of emergency have been in place since 1981. Under the state of emergency the President of Egypt “has been able to institute measures of criminal law which… limit procedural safeguards, through, for instance, referral of cases to military courts…broadening the scope of what is considered ‘criminal’ so as to place many people at risk of being prosecuted/ persecuted.”1 More specifically, the state of emergency created laws under which the security forces have extended powers, censorship is legalized, people can be detained without being charged, non-approved political organizations and any form of anti-government activity is banned. During his Presidency, Mubarak used the provisions of the emergency law to persecute the Muslim Brotherhood and other rivals such as Ayman Nour that he deemed to be political threats. In 1983, during the first Parliamentary elections of his Presidency, Mubarak changed the election laws and the new law “confined activism to legal political parties, thus excluding independent candidates from standing,”2 as well as, all Islamist groups. This new law enabled Mubarak to secure a large victory for his own National Democratic Party in the People’s Assembly and control who participated in the elections. One party that was able to participate besides the NDP was the New Wafd Party, which never gained a large amount of seats and did not have the organizational structure or popular support that made it appear as a threat to the regime. 1 Allain, Jean. (2004). International Law in the Middle East: Closer to Power than Justice. England: Ashgate Publishers. Pg. 205 2 Zahid, Mohammed. (2010). The Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s Succession Crisis: the Politics of Liberalisation and Reform in the Middle East. New York: Tauris Academic Studies. Horitski 4 The antagonisms that helped fuel the revolution were the country’s growing gap between the rich and poor and the growing control of police that exacerbated the problems that Egyptian citizens faced. Education has played a large role in the growing inequality gap. In the 1970s and 1980s there was a reappearance of private schools and foreign universities which helped to exacerbate the split in Egyptian society between those who could afford to send their children to private schools with a modern educational curricula and those who relied upon the free education provided by the Egyptian state. Those educated in private schools and universities were more likely to find higher paying jobs and made up the wealthier part of society whereas those with a public education background had to work harder for the same opportunities. Many Egyptians faced increasing frustration in finding a job or taking jobs that were below their skill level, as well as, a high level of unemployment. Another irritant that fueled the people’s anger were the actions of the police forces and the government turning a blind eye to their actions. This anger was brought to the forefront with the death of Khaled Said, a young, Alexandrian businessman in June of 2010. Khaled Said was beaten and died while in police custody, after posting a video online of police officers sharing the remnants of a drug bust.3 His torture and murder was not the first of its kind, but due to the fact he was killed in public, the media attention his death received, and the fact that he was a middle class citizen people took interest in his death because it brought forth the idea that no one was safe from the police and security forces. Initially, the police tried to frame Khaled Said as a drug dealer who died of an overdose, but after public opinion mounted against the police, the two police officers were charged with illegal arrest and excessive use of force rather than murder and the trial has continuously been postponed. This was yet another incident of police brutality. 3 (2010). Egypt Police in Brutality Trial Over Khaled Said Death. BBC News. Retrieved October 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10773404 Horitski 5 According to Human Rights Watch “Egyptian security forces, particularly State Security Investigation (SSI) … have been permitted to operate in a lawless manner. Human rights abuses by these forces include arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, and torture of suspects during interrogation.”4 The continued abuses by the regime such as torture, unlawful detention, the murder of Khaled Said and other issues such as Mubarak’s attempt to hand power over to his son, Gamal, and the decline of the economy helped to fuel anger against the government and largely contributed to the January protests and revolution. The upheaval in Tunisia in late 2010 and January 2011 also helped to spark the revolution in Egypt. Political protests started in Tunisia after a young man named Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself on fire after being humiliated by a policewoman and because of the desperation he felt at not being able to make a living and care for his family. His act highlighted the desperation felt by many Tunisians who were frustrated with living conditions, police violence, rampant unemployment, and a lack of human rights. Bouazizi’s death served as a trigger and brought Tunisians into the streets protesting and when the police reacted harshly against the protestors, it sparked a revolution in Tunisia and also helped to inspire the events in Egypt. After almost a month of continued protests, Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country and was eventually granted asylum in Saudi Arabia. The case of Tunisia showed that it was possible for a popular uprising to oust a long-serving dictator and give the promise of real change and a democratic transition. Protests began in Egypt on January 25, 2011, after being organized through social networking sites, with thousands of Egyptians taking to the streets of Cairo around Tahrir Square 4 Human Rights Watch, Egypt: Hostage-Taking and Intimidation by Security Forces, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1995, available at http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1995/Egypt.htm Horitski 6 and in other cities around the country. They gathered to protest the high levels of poverty, corruption, and unemployment that had been increasingly felt in the country. Over the coming days, the protest gained momentum and protestors clashed with security forces before the army was deployed on January 28 and tens of thousands of people joined the protests after Friday prayers. These events caused Mubarak to sack his cabinet in an attempt to appease protestors and two days later he appointed a vice president for the first time in his 30-year rule. January 31, spelled the beginning of the end for Mubarak when the army announced that they recognized the rights of the people and refused to use force against them.
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