President Morsi claims the opposition is an anti-Islamist
elite. In fact, he is losing support because of his economic policies
".....But if Egyptians are, as results indicate, losing faith in the Brotherhood,
it isn't because the organisation is Islamist, but because it has so far been
rubbish at ruling. Many believe the Brotherhood has kept its promises to power,
but not to the people. Crucially, President Morsi's economic policy has deepened
the neo-liberalism that brought so much misery during the Mubarak era and was a
key component of the uprising against him.
This economic stamp is all over Morsi's policies, both before and as a part
of the proposed constitution – which was completed in a one-day marathon, by an
Islamist-dominated assembly, after Christian, liberal and female members walked
out. In early December he announced an end to fuel subsidies – so household
bills for gas cylinders and electricity, for example, are set to spike.
Meanwhile, an IMF loan of
$4.8bn currently being negotiated is conditioned on what has been described as
the biggest wave of austerity cuts since 1977 – when subsidies on staple foods
were removed in one crippling hit, prompting the "bread riots". Today the plan
is to reduce public spending, cut subsidies, increase tax on basic goods, and
devalue the Egyptian pound. This package was delayed because of
the current turmoil. But why should Egyptians swallow such a Shock Doctrine-style deal,
when one of the key tenets of the revolution was a call for social justice?
Meanwhile, the proposed
constitution reveals more of the Brotherhood's conservative economics. It has a
clause that pegs wages to productivity. It stipulates that only "peaceful"
strikes (whatever that means) are allowed. It keeps military interests intact
and invisible to public scrutiny – in a country where the army is thought to own
anything from 10% to 45% of the national economy (nobody knows for sure because
it's all so secret). It is all more evidence that Morsi is not, as he claims,
trying to "protect the revolution", but wants to protect the interests of an
entrenched elite at the expense of everyone else. Indeed, this year a Bloomberg
report referred to the wealthy, controlling echelons of this Islamist group as
the "Brothers
of the 1%".
Small wonder, then, that
the factory-dense city of Mahalla declared
itself an independent state, in protest at Morsi's anti-union laws. Since he
came to power there has been a wave of strikes; not just factory stoppages but
also health worker strikes and consumer protests at eroding public services. And
Egypt's rapidly growing independent unions have been mobilising
nationally against the constitution, using its trampling of social justices
as the hook......
But while his economic policy makes Morsi unpopular on the streets, it is
precisely what makes him acceptable to the west: power-serving economics coupled
with a foreign policy that doesn't rock any regional boats, crucially with
Israel. Using standard paternalistic filters, the US is banking on the idea that
the Brotherhood's religious credibility will underwrite its reactionary
politics, thereby maintaining the status quo. In this sense, the American
administration doesn't really care if it's a Mubarak or a Morsi in power, as
long as these interests are preserved......"
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