egypt's despair
By Lana Smith Callies
Egypt suffers a second president being forced out of office by the military, and supporters now wreak havoc on Christians for supposedly having to do with the president's ousting. Back in 2012, Egypt elected its first democratically elected president in the entire history of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious/political group in Egypt. Morsi promised to be a leader for "all Egyptians" including Christians and non-religious voters. He started off as a strong leader for what his people wanted, but soon started granting himself more and more power and doing things in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. Eventually in early 2013, protesters swarmed the streets demanding that president Morsi resign because he was abusing his power. They finally got their way, and the military took Morsi out of office and placed him under house arrest mid-2013. He now is on trial for ordering the killing of protestors and is also accused for breaking out of jail with assistance from the Egypt army and foreign forces, spying for foreign groups, and insulting the judiciary. (IBNLive, 2014) Also, supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are now attacking Christians and their homes, churches, schools, and shops throughout the country. Claiming that the Christians had to do with Morsi's ousting.
In 2011 before the election, the military, acting on a ruling by the upreme Court, shut down parliament. The military also granted itself new powers, including control over the national budget and the power to issue laws. Weakening the power of the president, who by this time appeared to be Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood, whom the military opposed. (PBS, 2013) The presidential election was held on June 16th and 17th, 2012. Egypt's first freely-elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was sworn in to office on June 30, 2012. He recieved 51.7 percent of the vote, popular among Christians and Islamists alike. Morsi was Egypt's first Islamist president, and the first one without a military background. (Simmons, 2013) This was quite an accomplished day for Egypt. A little later on in his term, Morsi issued a proclamation allowing himself to take any and all actions that he deems necessary to protect the country, and continued to grant himself more power as his ruling continued.