Introduction
According to Campante and Chor (2012), the last decade witnessed a situation of unrest in the Arab world, with civilians in a substantial number of countries rising against the regimes that were deemed to be autocratic.
The full scale of the revolution was witnessed in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, where the scale of action was quite high, leading to the toppling of the heads of states of these countries.
However, there have been a lot of debates about the post-revolutionary developments, which raises a lot of questions about the worthiness and the level of success attained by the revolution.
The question of publicizing of the revolution in the Arab world also comes out strongly, considering the nature of political changes that have taken effect since the end of the revolution.
Most of the questions about the post-revolutionary developments revolve around the composition and nature of national governance for the countries and whether the citizenry can derive the goals they were pressing for during the revolution (Campante & Chor 2012).
In this paper, it is argued that the post revolutionary political developments in the Arab world depict the prevalence of the problem of political change in these countries, which denotes weaknesses in the advancement of the revolution.
This paper presents a critical discussion of the post-revolutionary situation in Egypt. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the advancement of the revolution in Egypt.
This is followed by a critical analysis of the political developments that are taking place in Egypt since the end of the revolution and their implications on the revolution.
Overview of the Egypt Revolution
It is critical to note that one important thing that comes into the mind when talking about revolution is the nature of reforms that are desired by the people who initiate and advance the revolution (Campante & Chor, 2012).
Most of the political analysts of the political revolution in Egypt argue that the revolution in Egypt resulted from the need for political change in the country.
Analysts point out that the president of the country had been in power since the time the country gained independence, approximately 30 years; an aspect that had enabled him to negatively influence the political course in the country. The Egypt revolution took place in the year 2011.
The revolution was preceded by an uprising that began in January in the same year.
It should be noted that the Egyptian revolution came immediately after the revolution that had taken place in Tunisia in the late 2010 to January 2011, which had resulted in the overthrowing of the then Tunisian President, Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years.
This denoted that the revolution was highly influenced by the political developments in Tunisia, its neighboring country. The revolution took the form of non-violent resistance to the political regime of the country. However, acts of violence were also witnessed in the revolution (Pasquini, 2011).
The demands of the protesters were highly centered on political and legal issues in the country. Leaving it at that could make one attempt to classify the revolt as both a socioeconomic, as well as a political revolution.
However, the key indicators of the revolution pointed to the need for an end to the political regime in the country, which was considered to be oppressive to the citizenry.
Under the regime that was led by Hosni Mubarak, there was outright deprivation of the rights of the citizens through military governance, the enforcement of the emergency law in the country and the lack of space for the participation of the citizenry in economic and political governance.
Clearly, the revolution was highly founded on political grievances. However, socioeconomic issues also came out strongly in the course of the revolution (Radwan, 2011).
According to Pasquini (2011), the center stage of the revolution was the capital of Egypt, Cairo, where both non-violent groups of protestors, as well as violent acts of protest were witnessed. The protest received massive coverage from the international media.
The international community, mostly western countries, reacted by calling for peaceful protests and reiterating on the importance of stability in Egypt and the entire Arab region.
The revolution ended with the resignation of the Egyptian President and the subsequent handling of political power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which could undertake the demands raised by the citizens in the revolution.
The end of the Egyptian is argued to be the beginning of another problem in the country, basing on the fact that power was handed to the military. This is best explored in the following section.
The analysis of post-revolutionary Egypt
Deillon (2011) observed that a substantial number of political commentators have developed interest in the exploration of the post revolutionary political landscape in Egypt. The main central question that guides their research is whether the aftermath of the revolution depicts a revolutionized country.
Do the resignation and the subsequent prosecution of the former president of Egypt denote a change in the political situation in the country, as opined by the concerns that were raised during the revolution?
The demands of the revolts pointed to the need for an end to the parallel structures of executive governance in Egypt. The removal of President Mubarak can be considered as an achievement by the Egyptians. However, the question of whether a parallel structure of political governance has diminished remains unanswered.
According to Deillon (2011), there is very little that has been achieved in terms of political transformation in the country. A substantial number of political scientists argue that the revolution in the country is still far from over.
Egypt is still seen as a highly politicized state that does not portray a clear differentiation between the rulers and government institutions.
Therefore, it is still quite daunting to implement meaningful political change in the country because of a high level of interrelation between government bureaucrats and state institutions. This is bound to be replicated in other institutions of the country, just as it was in the former regime.
An evaluation of the functioning of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is the body that took power from Mubarak, reveals that the body still holds a lot of privileges and power, which can still be likened to the power that was possessed by the former regime.
Therefore, similar repressive rules like the ones witnessed during the Mubarak rule could still be witnessed (Deillon, 2011). One critical observation that has been made is that the SCAF exhibits veto power over the political structures of Egypt.
They are the determinants of the people who are appointed to head public institutions in the country. The same political figures that backed the Mubarak regime have emerged under the auspices of change and are the ones who are deemed to take power under the current political system (Kandil, 2013).
Thus, the resultant situation is that the military remains to be more organized and stronger, unlike the revolutionary groups whose disorganization is compounded by the set of leaders who are not reform minded.
Under the umbrella of political parties and reform movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, these same people are recast as the emergent reformers in the country.
The other concern that has been raised and perhaps the reason for the state of unrest amongst the Egyptian is the level of commitment and the pace at which the SCAF is implementing political changes in the country.
With the absence of a stronger opposition wing in the country, it is quite difficult to pressure for quicker political reforms in Egypt (Deillon, 2011).
Serious concerns have also been made on the nature of political appointments, which depicts the commitment of the new political leader of the country, Mohamed Morsi’s, commitment to appease the military at the expense of the country’s well being.
Morsi promised to acquire more weapons for the country’s military from other countries other than the United States. This signifies the political rivalry between the Arab countries and the Western countries due to their backing of the revolution and the condemnation of the country’s political regime during the revolution.
It has proven to be difficult to do away with the military rule in the country.
The trust of the people in the political leadership of Egypt has not been regained; hence the military still remains to be the main body that oversees governance in the country, irrespective of the fact that the revolt quested for the abolishment of a military rule in the country.
The question that remains unanswered is how long the country will continue to embrace military rule. The longer the military remains to be significant in the internal political governance of the country, the longer it is likely to take the Egyptians to attain a popular government (Kandil, 2013).
Contrary to most commentators, there are a number of political commentators who argue that the revolution has brought about a number of political reforms in the country.
One of the main factors that contributed to the uprising against the political regime in Egypt was the personalization of power by the Mubarak regime. Since the revolution, the political landscape has widened with the emergence of different political groups in the country.
Different political parties are coming up in the country, which denotes the growth of democracy unlike the pre-revolution times where the WAFD party dominated the political space in Egypt (Deillon, 2011).
An active political climate is crucial to the prevention of unresponsive and corrupt political regimes from ascending to power and manipulating the citizenry. However, in the case of Egypt, there are still a lot of concerns about the nature of fragmented groups that are emerging in the country’s political society.
The political parties in the country are still young, having undergone a lot of suppression from the Mubarak administration. The political parties can only grow when there is an adequate supportive environment, which many people still doubt by pointing at the wrangles and disorganization that is still widely seen in the country.
Whether they can impose checks on governance is a question that cannot be answered now. The answer is reserved, because, as observed earlier, these groups are administered by the same leaders who were a source of repression and a reason for the press for reforms through the uprising (Kandil, 2013).
The role of Islam in the country also comes out a vocal issue that has been given a substantial amount of focus by the media. This derails the focus on the main issues that brought about the uprising, which were the need for political and economic order in the country.
Division is being witnessed among the Muslim groups in the country. The former regime was able to consolidate these groups, though this was done through the exercise of repression (Deillon, 2011).
Conclusion
The recent political revolution in the Arab world has raised a lot concerns about the status of democracy in the countries forming the region. This paper has explored the current status of the post-revolutionary Egypt in relation to the demands that were raised during the revolution.
From the discussion, it can be concluded that post-revolutionary Egypt is still witnessing a lot of political complexities, which hinders the attainment of the political reforms that were pressed for by the Egyptians.
The status of political manipulation in the country began almost immediately, with handing of political powers in the hands of the military.
The signs of political reforms in the country have been put in jeopardy with the diverse locus of power and the re-emergence of political leaders who failed to embrace political democracy in Egypt. Thus, a substantial number of political commentators argue that the revolution is still far from over.
References
Campante, F. R., & Chor, D. (2012). Why was the Arab World poised for revolution? Schooling, economic opportunities, and the Arab Spring. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), 167-187.
Deillon, J. (2011). The state of the Egyptian revolution. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 30(9), 60-60.
Kandil, H. (2013). Deadlock in Cairo. London Review of Books, 35(6), 17-20.
Pasquini, E. (2011). Hassan Fedawy and the Egyptian revolution. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 30(5), 57-57.
Radwan, A. B. (2011). How the Egyptian revolution emphasized the sovereignty of the people. American Diplomacy. Web.