Mohamed Morsi - Caricature by DonkeyHotey
Caricature of President Mohamed Morsi deposed in a coups by the Egyptian military
Is there still any doubt that the Egyptian military staged a coups overthrowing legitimately elected President Mohamed Morsi was precipitated by millions in the streets protesting against Morsi which became the catalyst for the army to act as it did?
Coups, especially ones that overturn a legitimately elected president or Prime Minister (think Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran in 1953 and Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973) bring unpredictable yet terrible consequences for the people.
Yesterday's killing of more than 50 Morsi backers by the army is seen by the survivors as a massacre of peaceful protesters.
With this incident, Islamists of the Nour Party, which initially supported the army's coups has now removed itself from any negotiations with secularists, liberals, leaders of the student protesters and former supporters of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak to help form an interim government. And the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist party of deposed President Morsi has vowed to continue its protests until Morsi gets reinstated.
It's hard to imagine a worse scenario that has unfolded in Egypt.
With unyielding opposition forces in the population holding onto their rigid positions that either backed the army's coups of Morsi and now seemingly all Islamists, not just Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in opposition to any negotiations, how can this impasse be transcended without bringing on a civil war?
Reconciliation between opposition forces is extremely difficult, not only in Egypt but in all countries attempting to establish a democratic path after decades of autocratic rule, without agreeing that compromise and mutual respect for their differences be accepted a priori as necessary before establishing a new government and before any elections take place.
A forced presidential election without a compromised constitution written and in place and approved by the people is disastrous, as Egypt has proven.
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