What would the fall of Morsi mean to the Islamists?

The political crisis in Egypt reached gridlock and the army intervened once again to find a resolution. This has triggered much speculation about the fate of President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood

Khalil Al-Anani , Wednesday 3 Jul 2013
Ahram Online

".....The key question now is: what will happen if President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are overthrown? What are the repercussions for the Brotherhood and other Islamist forces? Will Egypt replicate the Algerian model when the army carried out a coup with the support of secularists against the Islamists which resulted in bloodbaths in the 1990s?......

Over the past weeks, I spoke to many senior Brotherhood leaders and was shocked by their utter disregard for the opposition and the popular rage building up against their rule. I realised how badly mistaken they are about the crisis when I asked Mahmoud Hussein, the Brotherhood secretary general, about his expectations for 30 June demonstrations. Hussein said: “A normal day and the people will protect us.” It was then that I realised the Brotherhood is living on another planet and is disconnected from what is happening.

After mass demonstrations on 30 June, I spoke to some Brotherhood leaders and I detected their regret. One of them told me: “We misjudged the situation and we will pay the price.”

The last card the Brotherhood holds today is converting the crisis into a religious and sectarian battle in order to win the sympathy of some sectors in society. I found many Brotherhood youth in Rabaa Al-Adawiya who believe they are defending Islam and Egypt’s identity, not only the president. One leader told me: “The Islamic project is under threat”, which is similar to what Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagi said: “We will protect President Morsi with our blood.”

If that were true, the Brotherhood will lose everything – not just the presidency."