Thursday, July 4, 2013

Why it was necessary to remove Morsi

The revolution aimed to change the rules of the game, not just its players. When it was clear that Mohamed Morsi was picking up the mantle of Mubarak, he had to go

By Khaled Fahmy , Thursday 4 Jul 2013
Ahram Online

"I did not vote for Mohamed Morsi in the previous presidential elections. I invalidated my ballot in these elections because I realised that Egypt deserves better than either Morsi or Shafiq. Yet when the results were announced, I was glad because I realised that we had managed to carry out the first free and fair elections, and I considered Mohamed Morsi the legitimate president of the country, and on many occasions I have stated that my disputes with him and my lack of trust in him do not mean I deny his legitimacy.


Yet on 18 May I went to Tahrir Square and I signed the "Rebel" petition calling for the immediate departure of Mohamed Morsi, before completing his presidential term. And on 30 June I joined the millions to insist on the same demand.

What happened between June 2012 and May 2013 that prompted me to change my position?.....

Mohamed Morsi continues to speak of legitimacy, and by that he means the legitimacy of the ballot box. Yet the act of going to the ballot box was made possible, in the first place, by our revolution. This revolution did not start merely to hold fair and free elections that bring new faces and players. When I participated in the revolution with other Egyptians, my intention was changing the rules of the game and not to change the players. But when I became sure that it was not Dr Morsi's intention to change these rules but rather that he meant to play according to the same old rules, and when I realised that his priorities were attacking the judiciary and the media not purifying the interior ministry and subjecting the army to societal oversight, that was when Mohamed Morsi no longer became a legitimate president. Rather, for me he became a leader who had forgotten or missed the fact that there is a revolution that brought him to his place. This is the reason why it became necessary to rebel so that the revolution may continue."

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