Egyptians want to be reassured

The ultimatum issued on July 1st to the head of state by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has placed the army in the center of the board in Egypt. Essential before, she returned in the shade with the election of President Morsi last year, until popular discontent forced him out of its reserve. But what is the role of the Egyptian army, why the people support it that much? Ahmed Hassan is a journalist in Cairo, he explains that back in favor of the army. An interview conducted by Dorothy Haffner for ARTE Journal.

ARTE Journal: How is the support of the people in the army? The Egyptians have forgotten the crimes committed by the army in 2011, their inability to resolve the country's economic situation?

AhmedAhmed Hassan: After a year of the Muslim Brotherhood to power without the opposition does not offer alternatives, Egyptians have lost faith in politics. They see the army as the only way to save the country, stabilize it, and help the economy to recover. Of course there is a fear to see the military return to power, but we hope the army learned a lesson from the events of 2011 and establish a temporary Presidential Council, organize a new constitution worthy of the Egyptians and after the parliamentary and presidential elections.

Egyptians want stability at all costs?

You should know that the Egyptians are not really a revolutionary people. They seek to improve their lives and they want to be reassured. First, they want a return to normalcy in their daily life and after democracy, freedom, etc ... More than 60% of Egyptians live below the poverty line, so the rhetoric of democracy is for intellectuals. At first people wants everything back to normal ...

Who will take Morsi down? The army and the people?

It is the people. What we feel in the street is the will of the people, of course, supported by the army, but the source of legitimacy is the people. At least 17 million Egyptians went down to the streets for three days. And then the military statement is very clear: the army does not want to be part of the political life and it doesn't plan to that. But as is its role to protect the people, it will decide on a roadmap and guide its application. The Egyptian army is not interested in politics as people think. it is interested in keeping its privileges under the Constitution, which means its budget remains secret and to keep control over its economic projects.

Once Morsi is gone, Egypt would finish with the Muslim Brotherhood?

Maybe, but it would be a big mistake to ignore 5,000,000 Islamist voters who elected Morsi a year ago. Their current errors arise from the fact that they did not have the opportunity to speak before. The best would be to absorb them in the Egyptian society, they have the right to be represented as everyone, do not isolate them.

The revolt could be put into stand-by, so to speak, with the start of Ramadan soon explode or otherwise for good?

Ramadan begins in about a week. By then we'll know if the Muslim Brotherhood regime ended quietly or there has been a bloodbath. Or it will be a quiet Ramadan because everything will be resolved, or it will be a bloody Ramadan.

An Interview given to Arte WEB