Egypt one year after the fall of Mubarak

TEHRAN, Feb. 14 (MNA) -- It is more than a year since the Egyptian revolution deposed dictator-for-life Hosni Mubarak, but the situation is still volatile and the uprising has yet to realize its original objective of changing the political system. The remnants of the Mubarak regime are still ruling the country, and it is not clear when, or if, the newly elected parliament will gain hold of the reins of power. The ruling military junta is in total control and is preventing a swift transition of power to a democratically elected government. The cabinet ministers are not accountable to parliament and the elected lawmakers are operating in a political vacuum. Actually, the Egyptian constitution is to blame because it is still based on a presidential system. The revolutionaries made a great mistake in agreeing to an election before all the proposed amendments to the constitution were ratified. Civil society institutions should have delayed the election until the constitution was changed and a parliamentary system was approved. Egyptian citizens are extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the supreme military council over the past year. The criminals of the former regime have not been brought to justice, which has made the people very disappointed about the prospects for political change. This discontent has sparked massive demonstrations over the past few months. Meanwhile, the economic situation is still terrible. Nearly 40 percent of the 86 million Egyptians are living under the poverty line and many citizens cannot earn enough money to have a reasonable standard of living. The country has some small oil and gas reserves, but deals were signed with Israel and Jordan before the revolution, according to which most of the reserves were sold to those two countries. However, sections of the gas pipeline to Israel have been blown up 12 times over the past few months in protest over the former regime’s economic relations with the Zionist regime. Before the revolution, Egypt’s economy depended heavily on foreign aid, which was suspended after Mubarak was deposed. Now, Western governments are making efforts to restore the financial assistance so they can play a significant role in the country’s political life and control developments in Egypt. In light of all this, it can be said that political uncertainty and economic problems are the main factors behind the current unrest in Egypt.