The rise and fall of Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian politics

Nearly a century, since 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has been at the forefront of Egyptian politics. It was a long and hard journey, which after a general election that followed a fierce people’s revolution, for the first time, their dream came true; they gripped the leadership they had long fought for with Mohammed Morsi at the helm of affairs – the first democratically elected Egyptian president. Just one year after this historic event, Morsi and indeed Muslim Brotherhood lost to another revolution which today 3rd July 2013 culminated in a military intervention or more or less a systematic coup de tat.

From whichever perspectives one may look at it, the obvious is that this well-organized Islamic political group had really fought a battle for a long time. They had planned, struggled and sacrificed for a course they strongly believed in, which was better governance and the emancipation of Egyptian society. I have no doubt, their emergence into power, beside other factors,  was, most importantly the confidence and hope people had in their long-awaited leadership.

What went wrong? Nobody knows. There might be so many assertions and different sides of the story though. The opposition might have played a role. Other claimed he was only concerned about his party which, according to them, was leading the country into a huge polarization. Some believed he was plotted against by people within his government who the majority were Mubarak’s allied and ex-officials. It appeared also to many that he had no good relation with the army, and perhaps that was why they quickly came forth without much delay to give him and the opposition ultimatum.

Whatever was or were the reasons for this dramatic situation for the Muslim Brotherhood, the oppositions and the Egyptians, so many questions remained unanswered, and politically all the parties concerned have a lot to do with regards their political plan for bringing change in Egypt. It is clear that what has been experimented has not worked.

Specifically, it’s too early for the Muslim Brotherhood to fall apart in their leadership. If they had survived a century of political hurricane why would they so easily fall? What happened people that elected Morsi turned against him, though a great number are still supporting him?

What went wrong? I pity the whole situation; I feel for my Egyptians whose fight,  sacrifice and longing for a peaceful and better life still have not ended. I feel for the Muslim Brothers who fought for nearly a century but unbelievably losing after just a year of victory. And I pity the Arab world for their dangling political instability.