Morsi’s tactical retreat

TEHRAN,Dec.18(MNA)--Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s recent retreat from his controversial decree was regarded by many as a tactical move to control the secular and liberal groups in Egypt and to pave the way for a national referendum on the country’s much debated draft constitution. Over the past few months, secular groups and loyalists of former dictator Hosni Mubarak have intensified their efforts to weaken Morsi and oust him from office. The recent decree gave them the opportunity to accuse Morsi of abusing his power and establishing a new dictatorship. This led to scenes of chaos and the death and injury of many Egyptian citizens during street clashes. The opposition is well aware of the fact that Morsi’s plan to establish a popular and religious democracy is welcomed by an overwhelming majority of the Egyptian people and will seriously undermine the opposition in the future. This is the reason why the demonstrations continued, even after Morsi annulled some parts of his decree, and the reason why the secular and pro-Western groups called for a boycott of the national referendum. By taking to the streets and fomenting discord in Egypt, the secular and liberal groups are trying to pave the way for foreign intervention. This could even take the form of a military coup d'état backed by the Western powers. The opposition is making every effort to impede the referendum process in order to prevent the ratification of the new constitution. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has a great degree of influence over the poorer classes of the society. Almost 85 years of political activity has made the Brotherhood very popular in Egypt, even among non-Muslims. This has led to the establishment of an alliance between opposition groups with the goal of decreasing the Islamist influence in the country. Western governments and their regional proxies are extremely worried about the rise in the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence, which could not only threaten U.S. interests in Egypt but could also give a boost to other resistance movements in the region. Thus, supporting the opposition and its efforts to topple Morsi is the best way to serve the interests of Israel and the United States in the region. Hassan Hanizadeh is a political analyst and an expert on Middle Eastern issues based in Tehran. (By Hassan Hanizadeh)