Mounting pressure on Egyptian President

One year ago, Morsi could now have imagined that his position would be vigorously questioned after one forth of his 4-year Presidential term. In all aspects ranging from politics to economics and society, Egyptian people are discontent with his performance as the country has not seen any positive changes since he took power.

Demonstrations against President Morsi in Cairo (Photo:PressTV)

The Egyptian economy is still in serious crisis and prices have doubled against those of late last year. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Finance’s statement on June 20, the budget deficit from July 2012 to May 2013 increased to nearly US$30 billion, equivalent to 11.8% of the GDP and up US$20 billion against the same period last year.

The country’s foreign debt rose 15.5% to more than US$38 billion, while its unemployment rate reached to the alarming rate of 13%.

In the political arena, President Morsi continued to increase his power. Most recently, he signed a decree appointing his aides as provincial governors. With this appointment, the Muslim Brotherhood controls 10 out of 27 provinces and cities in the country, some of which are the strongholds of the opposition.

The economic crisis and the President’s efforts to strengthen his power have disappointed the Egyptian people. A recent public poll by the Zogby Research Service announced on June 17 showed that the support rate for President Morsi dropped to 28%, much lower than 57% last year.

Moreover, the number of protests against Morsi has increased sharply. According to the International Development Center, there have been 9,427 protests, as amount 7 times higher than those during former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Observers say that tensions will increase on June 30 when the opposition launches a series of major demonstrations throughout the country demanding Morsi to resign and calling for an early Presidential election.

The risks are imminent when the Tamarod opposition group has collected more than 15 million signatures demanding to dismiss Morsi, 2 million signatures higher than the number of votes in his favor in the second round of last year’s Presidential election.

In an effort to ease the tension, President Mohamed Morsi made a televised speech promising to reform and calling for national dialogue. He warned that the political split in the country would threaten the democracy, paralyze the country and cause instability.

However, the President’s speech has failed to deal with the serious rift in the country. One day after his speech, the opposition and revolutionary forces in Egypt announced a plan for the transitional period to follow President Morsi’s possible departure.

The plan drafted the dissolution of the Shura Council- the Upper House, the suspending of the current constitution and the drafting of a new constitution. According to the proposed plan, the prime minister will call on the National Defense Council to do its job in keeping with the national security needs of the country, rescue the economy and implement policies on social equality.

President Morsi’s one year in office has been marked with instability and challenges facing the Egyptian government. The Egyptian people are seeking ways to settle instability in the country and an appropriate solution seems out of reach.