Egypt still running in circles

Photo: AP photo

Egypt still running in circles. 50480.jpeg

Egypt's opposition issued an ultimatum to President Mursi: either he steps down before Tuesday evening, or millions of people take to the streets.

At least seven people were killed and more than 600 were injured in clashes between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi during the weekend.

On Sunday, more than 17 million people took to the streets of the country, demanding the president's resignation. On the night of July 1, massive clashes between riot police and protesters took place, in which four people were killed. In the morning, the death toll rose to seven.

Representatives of Tamarrud opposition movement stated that they gave the president time before 5:00 p.m. Tuesday to resign. Otherwise, massive protests across the country will continue, they promise. 

Sergey Demidenko, an expert with the Institute for Strategic Analysis, shared his vision of the situation with Pravda.Ru.

"I think that he is not going to step down, but the level of support of the "Muslim Brotherhood" has been declining, it's obvious. All of these events were predictable. It was enough to look through the program of Freedom and Justice Party to understand that it would all end up with what we can see today. When the Muslim Brotherhood was coming to power, they were not quite ready to take that power. They did not expect that the military would dethrone Mubarak and give them an opportunity to stay at the wheel for a while.

"Their program is untenable, it can not solve any of Egypt's socio-economic problems. Contradictions are deepening, the country's GDP is declining, the pound is losing value, unemployment is growing - all attributes of the socio-economic crisis are there. 

"Therefore, people began to wonder. They toppled Hosni Mubarak, wanted to get a better life, but it just wouldn't come. All the rage is directed against those in power. Once again, the military acted very cleverly. Sharing the power with the Muslim Brotherhood, the military stepped back into the shade, and is now it is the Muslim Brotherhood that gets it in the neck.

"Protesters demand the power should be delivered to Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt is running in circles again and it will continue running like that, because the economic model, which now takes place in Egypt, is unable to feed 80 million people. Nothing is going to change for the better, because the economy of the country is still based on the Suez Canal and agriculture. There's no opportunity to diversify the economy. So whoever comes to power, nothing is going to change. Egypt needs someone like President Gamal Abdel Nasser, to try to regulate the situation."