I sat down in Cairo with five Egyptians who supported the uprising against Mubarak and now have sharply different views about how to set the country to rights. Their opinions on what’s needed now make clear the depth of the challenge facing Egypt. (Mr Mohsen is one of them)
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In January 2011, Mohamed Mohsen placed a bet with his father on whether calls for a revolution in Egypt would succeed. Three years later, he concedes the wager is unresolved. Mr. Mohsen, who works in marketting, joined the throngs in Tahrir Square. After Mubarak stepped down, he joined a campaign to clean up the mess in downtown Cairo left by 18 days of protest.
But his passion for political change, and optimism that something better is around the corner, has dimmed considerably.
“Every time we celebrate or are happy with something, something bad happens,” he says. “When Mubarak stepped down, the [junta] came to power. When they left, we were happy. But then Morsi arrived and things got worse.”
Although two of Mohsen’s uncles hold senior positions within the Muslim Brotherhood, he says the group’s recent designation as a terrorist organization is fair, recalling flurries of incitement to violence by senior Brotherhood figures over the summer.
He has some sympathy for Morsi, believing that the former president had enemies within Egypt’s rigid bureaucracy who stymied his ability to govern. But he also thinks the Islamist leader should have done more. “Morsi had a historic chance, the chance to be a revolutionary hero,” says Mohsen. “He could have taken historical decisions. He could have removed people who put obstacles in his way.”
By the time people started rallying for Morsi’s ouster on June 30, 2013, Mohsen had shifted 180 degrees: A man who had demanded an end to military-backed rule in 2011 was now demanding its return. “June 30 was a coup, and I am very pleased it was a coup.”
To be sure, he doesn’t want indefinite military rule and says he won’t back Sisi for president. For now, he acknowledges that Egypt is still waiting for its revolution.
“The bet with my father continues,” he laughs. “The revolution will have succeeded when we get an elected civilian president who does good for the country.”
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http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0112/A-Mubarak-opponent-turned-coup-supporter