Four Years of Second Revolution and Current Political Scenario in Egypt A backgrounder to the present It was almost four years ago when the Egyptians after having dethroned the military-backed governemnt of President Mubarak in 2011were again chanting for the military to rescue the nation. It was perhaps another revolution in the post-revolution Egypt when on July 3, 2013, erstwhile Egypt’s Defense Minister and Chief Army Commander Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, an appointee of ousted President Morsi himself, in a national televised address declared the removal of an elected Islamist President Morsi. El-Sisi suspended the constitution, dissolved the parliament, appointed Adley Mansour, then head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, as an interim President and placed a civilian government in place. No doubt the government of Morsi had failed to pursue an inclusive democratic model when the country was passing through a difficult political turmoil. The government also showed the want of a much-needed moderation in day-to-day politics and governance. MBH-inspired Islamist government not only failed to accommodate its ideological counterpart, the Salafist but also faltered to perceive the entrenched role of army in the state structure of the Egypt and it further overlooked the ideological grievances of the other traditional political forces in the country. The transition during Morsi alienated million of people and engendered mistrust among other political parties and state institutions because somewhere his policies became more a reflective of a divisive politics which would have been due to an early desire for the implementation of the Islamist agenda. Islamists and liberals both committed strategic mistakes that finally paved the way for another military takeover in the country. The political dispute between two forces turned into an identity conflict and existential dilemma. The anti-military coalition gradually shifted towards an anti-Islamist alliance when ruling MBH unhesitatingly embraced the Salafist (an ultra-conservative entity) and eventually anti-Islamist forces forged a fresh partnership with the military EMAD El-DIN SHAHIN , Egypt’s Revolution Turned its Head , Current History , December 2015, accessed at http://emadshahin.com/?p=2015 on June 05, 2017 finally eroding the hopes for a liberal democracy in the country. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced a fresh Road Map after the second revolution of 2013, stipulating his future political plan. He promised to frame a new constitution, to be followed by parliamentary election and finally the election for the post of the president. But he reversed the order and decided to hold the presidential election first, presumably to have substantial say in determining the composition of the parliament and the nature of the constitution because the formation of the constitution under Morsi had antagonized many political groups in the country Mr. El-Sisi resigned from his military post and won the presidential election against a not-so-well-known n obscure figure, Hamid Sabahi of ‘Popular Current’ by achieving 94 % of vote with a reported turnout of 50% , the low turnout could be attributed to political disenchantment on the street. Later a referendum on military-friendly constitution was passed with 98 % ‘Yes’ vote in 2014 and reportedly many who were found putting flyers of ‘ No’ to the constitution were arrested or harassed . Between his election as a President in 2014 and election of parliament in October 2015, President issued almost three hundred decrees affecting everything from civil laws to the provision of government subsidies to economic policies to the mode and method of future parliamentary election. The current parliament is largest in size (596 members) in the parliamentary history of the country. Out of total 596 seats, 120 seats are reserved for party list and 28 members are appointee of the president and rest is reserve for independent candidates. In the two round of elections held in October 2015, ‘For the Love of Egypt block’ won all 120 seats Mai Shams El-Din, Impossible of Parliamentary Alliance, MADA MASR, accessed at https://www.madamasr.com/en/2015/12/27/feature/politics/the-impossible-parliamentary-alliance/ on June 30, 2017 reserved for party list and more than 400 independent members who fought the election under umbrella of different political groups joined another block , ‘In Support of Egypt’ which was deemed to be close to President El-Sisi. Later an ad-hoc alliance of eleven political parties including the defunct National Democratic Front of Mubarak’s era was formed who subsequently became the part of ‘For the Love of Egypt’ under the leadership of Sameh Saif al-Yazel, a former intelligence officer. Omar Halava, Meet Egypt New Parliamentary Majority Bloc, Atlantic Council accessed at http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/meet-egypt-s-new-parliamentary-majority-bloc-in-support-of-egypt on Juuly 01, 2017 After Mr. Tawafik Okasha, a popular TV host was denied the post of the speaker of the newly elected parliament; he alleged that most of the decisions in the parliament were being taken by the General Intelligence Services (GIS). According to him, it was GIS which had been entrusted the task of choosing the individual independent candidate to contest the election to seek their help in future to fulfill the quorum of two third numbers for any constitutional amendment or other decisions. Promise for democracy and the curtailment of political freedom: After the ouster of Morsi, President El-Sisi had promised to the Egyptians that their nation would become larger than their world itself. Mohamed Elmasry, Four Years after Morsi, New Arab, july 03, 2017 Accessed at https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/Comment/2017/7/3/Four-years-after-Morsi-Another-Egyptian-uprising-is-inevitable on July 03, 2017 When he was anointed as President of a new Egypt, he had promised to create basis for genuine democracy and broad human rights, strengthen the tattering economy and improve the national education system and the economic infrastructure of the country. Today when some are mourning and some are being made to celebrating the fourth anniversary of the ouster of Morsi, the country does neither appear to have become all successful democracy nor has it made major substantial economic advancement. In a very surprise move but with a precedent in history of the country, the Arab uprising has got a superficial mention in the national text book and the roles of Islamists have been vilified. The class IX text book mentions the uprising in Egypt in the following words, “National unity took its best from” Muslims and Christian went on the streets to call for “freedom and dignity”. Sudarshan Raghvan, In New Egyptian Text Book, It is Like the Revolution did not Happen, Washington Post, April 03, 2016 accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-new-egyptian-textbooks-its-like-the-revolution-didnt-happen/2016/04/23/846ab2f0-f82e-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html?utm_term=.784f66075334 on July 01, 2017 It ignores to mention about the real picture on the streets. One of the researchers in Cairo said that it is as if the revolution did not happen and it is almost the return of the Nasser’s days when the text books were written to flatter and bolster the government’s image. Sudarshan Raghvan, In New Egyptian Text Book, It is Like the Revolution did not Happen, Washington Post, April 03, 2016 accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-new-egyptian-textbooks-its-like-the-revolution-didnt-happen/2016/04/23/846ab2f0-f82e-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html?utm_term=.784f66075334 on July 01, 2017 In his days, Nasser was hailed as first preside of Egypt in the government text book but the reality was that Colonel Najib was the first president of the post-coup Egypt in 1952. According to another report, the recent turbulent history of Egypt will not be taught in secondary schools and there are reports that national parliament has called the minister of education to explain the reasons for this decision. Middle East Eye, http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/arabic-press-review-egypts-revolution-cut-school-books-1026526295 In a similar move the name of noble laureate Mr. ElBaradei, who stepped down as the Vice President against the crackdown, has been purged from the class V text book. Sudarshan Raghvan, In New Egyptian Text Book, It is Like the Revolution did not Happen, Washington Post, April 03, 2016 accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-new-egyptian-textbooks-its-like-the-revolution-didnt-happen/2016/04/23/846ab2f0-f82e-11e5-958d-d038dac6e718_story.html?utm_term=.784f66075334 on July 01, 2017 With the presidential election of 2018 looming large on the political horizon in the country, the police forces are tightening noose around potential rival to El-Sisi who is almost certain to contest the election. On May 23, a well-known human right lawyer Khalid Ali who is widely deemed to be a prospect candidate for the post of President in 2018 was arrested on the charge of violating public decadency Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/egypt-ngo-law-threatens-to-annihilate-human-rights-groups/ and he is most likely to face the trial with the intent of blocking his candidature. The recent law passed by the parliament, stripping the justice commission of power to appoint head of all law commissions in the country like the court of cassation, state council and state lawsuit authority and handing it over to the President Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/new-legislation-threatens-judicial-independence-in-egypt/ is likely to erode the autonomy of other state institutions and in particular the state judiciary.Similarly a long pending bill for creation of national election commission has been passed by which judges would have no more vigilant over the elections of the country. English Ahram Online http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/273037/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-parliament-approves-law-eliminating-judicial.aspx In September 2016 only, a court has decreed freezing the assets of five human right activists and the NGOs in a four years old case and these NGOs were accused of receiving foreign fund to sow the chaos. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-rights-idUSKCN11N0BT It is worth mentioning here that in 2013 Egypt had closed down many NGOs including an American NGO’ Freedom House and many of its employees were issued arrest warrant. The government has passed a new NGO law which Amnesty International described as an effort to annihilate those who are working outside the boundaries of security state and it had also requested President El-Sisi not to approve it. Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/egypt-ngo-law-threatens-to-annihilate-human-rights-groups/ Under the new law, around 47,000 NGOs and 100 foreign-funded charity organizations are under scanner. According to the law, no NGO can conduct a survey or field work without the prior permission of the government. Authority can disband the board of any NGO on the charge of harming public unity or disturbing public order. The minster of solidarity in Egypt, Ms Ghada Wali said that Egypt is not the only country which has banned the NGOs and there are many countries that control the work of the civil societies under the rule of law. Egypt Today, https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/6212/Why-Egypt-adopted-new-NGO-law She also told that FBI in US has released many documents proving the violations of rules and norms by NGOs affiliated with the MBH and the Hamas. Similar steps have been taken to curb the media freedom in the country and recently the government has decided to shut down 21 media sites like MADA MASR, Daily Egyptian News and Aljazeera on the charge of supporting and spreading terrorism. It is worth noting here that government in Egypt has old issues with Aljazeera broadcaster and few of its reporters are already facing trail on the charge of instigating violence and supporting the banned MBH. Other banned sites have been accused of supporting terrorism and propagating lies. Egyptian Street https://egyptianstreets.com/2017/05/24/egypt-bans-21-news-websitesincluding-al-jazeera-on-claims-of-supporting-terrorism/ The state news agency ‘MENA’ citing a security official said that these sites were blocked because they were supporting terrorism and the legal action would also be taken against them. Reuter http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-censorship-idUSKBN18K307 As far as political oppositions are concerned, prominent leadership of the MBH and its affiliates are serving the jail terms on one charge or other and other opposition groups have become marginalized and have become a fringe groups. It is happening because the current volatile environment does not allow them to raise other political issues except terrorism which the state seems to have monopolized. Even the voices of those non-Islamists groups which had supported El-Sisi’s crackdown after the ouster of Morsi in 2013 are rarely heard in the political parlance. Similarly the political views and ideas of intellectuals and statesmen are not very often heard and political activism of youths who were at the forefront in the last two revolutions has dwindled. According to a report in Egyptian Populations Survey, one out of four males age 15-29 want to leave the country and settle abroad. EMAD El-DIN SHAHIN , Egypt’s Revolution Turned its Head , Current History , December 2015, accessed at http://emadshahin.com/?p=2015 on June 05, 2017 Youth at large has become a ‘boat people, taking the risk of crossing the Mediterranean in the desperation to start a new life. Now the youths are exhausted and want to trade their hope and aspiration for political stability and for economic prosperity. Economic deliverance: No doubt the government in recent past has made the economic advancement and economic reform has been a major focus of its domestic, regional and global policies. The expansion plan of the Suez Canal anal donor conference in Sharm El Sheikh in past are some of the examples. Egypt has been able to shore up the dollars in the foreign reserve because of huge flow of loans and donation from the Gulf nations (around US $ 20 Billion since 2013) and the IMF loan of US $ 12 billion agreed in 2016 but all this took the current level of foreign debt to US $ 67322 million in the last quarter of 2016. Trading Economics in Egypt https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/external-debt Moreover the IMF loan has not come without condition and the inflation has increased by 32.3 % - highest since 1980s. Open Democracy https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/maged-mandour/weakening-of-egypt-s-regional-role Last month only government decided to cut fuel subsidies substantially after initially resisting the demands of the IMF for the same. Price of diesel, kitchen gas and gasoline has witnessed the hike of 55 %, 25 % and 43 % respectively. Meanwhile the price of LGP for household consumption has almost doubled. MADA MASR https://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/06/29/news/u/egypt-hikes-fuel-prices-by-up-to-100-to-save-le35-billion-in-budget/ The cut on subsidy has also affected the price of oil, water, electricity as well a public transportation which has hit the common people. But the minster of petroleum also announced that the saving on subsidy will be invested to upgrade the downstream infrastructure to improve the availability of high quality fuel. The subsidy cut is expected to bring the budget deficit from the current level of 145 billion LE to 110-115 billion LE. In last January only government increased the drugs price by 50 % and in the month of March, 2017 food grain witnessed a rise of 40 %. The new economic measure taken by the government and particular the subsidy cut on bread triggered bread riots in some parts of the country reminding one of the bread riots of 1977. Under the plan of the subsidy cut, there has been reduction in number of loaves of subsidized bread people can buy now. http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/31/egypts-coming-revolt-of-the-poor/ In order to increase the revenues from the exports, and due to the pressure from the international organizations, Egypt liberalized its exchange rate in November 2016 which currently stands at 18.08 LE English Ahram Online http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/272957/Business/Economy/Dollar-rate-drops-below-EGP--for-first-time-in-mon.aspx per US$ in 2017 when compared 6.3 in 2013. This may increase exports but the current account deficits will not decrease as cost of imports increases. According to the data from CBE, Egypt is running under $18.6 billion current account deficit as per the account of fiscal year of 2015-16. CBE – Central bank of Egypt On the other hand, the floating of the currency has been welcomed by several European companies like Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Eni which have made the investment in Egypt more attractive because of the prospect for the long term profitability to the foreign investors. Yasser El Shimy and Anthony Dworkin , Egypt on Edge: How Europe can Avoid another r Crisis in Egypt , European Council on Foreign Relations, accessed at http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/egypt_on_the_edge_how_europe_can_avoid_another_crisis_in_egypt_7298 on June 25, 2015In June 2016, Eni announced the discovery of new gas field in Baltim South West Exploration prospect located in the conventional water of Nile delta offshore Egypt. https://www.alexbank.com/Cms_Data/Contents/AlexBank_En/Media/Publication/Weekly/weeklyannualen-3-.pdf The government is spending millions of dollars on oil and gas exploration and extraction and in order to diversify the national economic infrastructure like in gas, coal and nuclear power energy. Under IMF guidelines the money save out of cut in subsidy has been diverted to social security schemes. Free foods are being served in schools and under the Takaful scheme http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/egypt/overview cash transfers are being made to the old-aged people and poor. The Weekly, 2016 : The Year in Review https://www.alexbank.com/Cms_Data/Contents/AlexBank_En/Media/Publication/Weekly/weeklyannualen-3-.pdfThe government has also decided to invest in the desert land to make it cultivable to reduce the dependence on food import. English Ahram Online http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/173472/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-to-launch--million-feddan-project-in-l.aspx. But Tourism- a primary source of revenue- has declined because of the security scenarios. A report of Egyptian planning ministry suggested a 63.3 % drop in the tourism revenues in the first nine months of fiscal year of 2015-16. Egyptian Streets https://egyptianstreets.com/2016/09/06/egypt-tourism-revenues-drop-by-63-3-in-first-9-months-of-fiscal-year/ Insecurity in the country has been damaging the economic advancement of the nation in an unprecedented way by shunning the prospect for tourism and investment. Official poverty index has risen to 27.8 % from last decade of 21 % due to poor economic performances and the current unemployment rate is reportedly about 40%. Steven A. Cook, Egypt’s Nightmare: Sisis’s Dangerous War on Terror , Foreign Affairs, 01 October, 2016 accessed at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/egypt-s-nightmare on July, 08, 2017. According to the world economic forum reports, the ambitious project of expansion of Suez Canal has costed more than US $ 8 billion Open Democracy, accessed at https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/maged-mandour/weakening-of-egypt-s-regional-role on June 30, 2017 and construction of new administrative capital at the outskirt of Cairo has made the country the world leader in wasteful use of the government money which has exhausted the foreign currency reserve further. http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/egypt_on_the_edge_how_europe_can_avoid_another_crisis_in_egypt_7298 However, major investments into Suez Canal and development of Suez Canal economic zone would provide employment and increase the export capacity of Egypt. It is worth to watch how the events turn as the development of Suez infrastructure is a long term project and the result cannot be expected over night. On the other hand the Army has expanded its own domination on the economic sector and is making substantial profit at the cost of the private sectors. The army is a primary broker in the subcontract of the projects, which puts the enormous amount of the government capital out of the civilian oversight. There were reports of army confiscating the sugar stock and selling it itself after its shortage in October 2016 had created uproar in the country and later it led to fixing of quota for each family. Spending on military hardware has increased and two dozens of fighter planes and navy vassals have been recently imported from France under the arms deal of worth US $ 1 billion was signed in 2016. Aljazeera English, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/francois-hollande-egypt-arms-deal-160417121211455.html Salaries of the police forces and the military have been increased four folds after El-Sisi came to power EMAD El-DIN SHAHIN , Egypt’s Revolution Turned its Head , Current History , December 2015, accessed at http://emadshahin.com/?p=2015 on June 05, 2017 while the expenditure on wage for civilians have increased merely by 4.5 in the year 2016-17. Open Democracy, accessed at https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/mostafa-bassiouny/Egypt--public-revolt-against-price-hikes-economy-protest on July 02, 2017 As a part of loan conditions, the salaries of bloated bureaucracy and its number are being reduced on frequent basis. Security and Terrorism: No doubt the pressing issue before the nation is combatting terrorism and the focus on extremism and rising threat to national security has reduced the national political discourse to the confines of the security and laws. It has disappointed those who viewed democracy and governance as prerequisite to restructure state institutions following the Arab uprising. EMAD El-DIN SHAHIN , Egypt’s Revolution Turned its Head , Current History , December 2015, accessed at http://emadshahin.com/?p=2015 on June 05, 2017 The country has seen steep rise in the incident of terror attacks which unlike past is no more confined to the Sinai region. The total number of terror attacks has increased from 376 in 2013 to 812 in 2016 with the rise of 115 % https://timep.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ESW-Report_Q42016_web.pdf The deadliest attack came in April 2017 when the cathedral of Coptic Pope (in Alexandria) and St George church ( in Tanta ) were attacked on Palm Sunday rendering 44 persons dead and leaving more than hundred injured. Later in May 2017, terrorists killed 30 Coptic Christians who were traveling in a bus in Upper Egypt. The responsibility for the terror attack was later claimed by the ISIS. The latest addition to the series of attack being witnessed in the region is the killing of 26 military persons on July 7. The terrorist with a car bomb rammed into a checkpoint near Rafah border in northern Sinai and attacked the security checkpoint. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/egyptian-soldiers-killed-in-attack-on-sinai-checkpoint It is also reported that terrorists looted the weapons and fled with the ammunition belonging to the armed forces. In a retaliatory move the army killed forty militants using Apache helicopters in the region. There are also reports that Islamists belonging to MBH are joining the ISIS because of the disenchantment and the absence of political headway in the country. One of the perpetuators of attack on Church in May is reported to be a former supporter of ousted President Morsi. There are reports of surfacing of other violent offshoots of the MBH like ‘Young Brother Front’ which recently in a statement has endorsed the violence in absence of political headway in the country. MADA MASR accessed at https://www.madamasr.com/ar/2017/01/09/news/u/%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%81/ on July 08 2017 Hassam is another such group which has claimed the responsibility for many attacks in town of Cairo including an attempted assassination of grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Goma. In recent months the incidents of dormant attacks and the violent vigilant attack have also increased dramatically in most cities including Cairo. Terrors attacks have become very common in the Nile Delta where both the civilians and security persons are being targeted which was not the case earlier. In first month of 2017, many Christians fled the Al-Arish region in Northern Sinai because of the rising fear of the extremist groups. http://morningstarnews.org/2017/02/christians-al-arish-egypt-flee-killings-northern-sinai/ The rising incident of terrorism across the country has led the government to impose another phase of emergency in the country. Human Right Watch has reported that in war against the ISIS and other act of terrorism, many extra judicial killing are taking place there. Human Right Watch, accessed at https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/16/egypt-possible-extrajudicial-killings-sinai on July 05 2017 Many are held without any charges and there are reports of occasional protests against the random arrest of the people. The local committees in Sinai Peninsula have complained the government against the rampant killing of innocent people in the name of war against ISIS and other form of terrorism. Persuasion of an Active Foreign Policy: President El-Sisi is pursuing an active foreign policy in the region since he has come to power. On the global front he has consolidated his ties with both President Trump of US and Putin of Russia. He was among the first few to have met President Trump after he became President to bring the old strategic and economic relationship on track which had lost the direction during President Obama and particularly after US did not come to the rescue of President Mubarak amidst the uprising. El-Sisi was the one who had met Mr. Trump before the US presidential election of 2016 and Donald then had described him as a ‘warm person’ and said that in case of his victory, the US would not merely be a strategic ally of Egypt but a loyal friend too. Al-Ahram Arabic Daily , accessed at http://acpss.ahram.org.eg/News/16266.aspx on June 30 2017 President El-Sisi has met Trump thrice in the span of six months and has been assured of full cooperation in the ongoing war against the ISIS, MBH and other extremist outfits active across the country. The cooperation between two nations become more important when Mr. Trump indicated recently that the US would not always commit its own force on ground to fight the terrorism because the Islamic terrorism is more an issue of ideology and philosophy where the Islamic world could help themselves. Al-Ahram Arabic Daily , accessed at http://acpss.ahram.org.eg/News/16266.aspx Last week only on July 1 a congressional delegation was in Cairo where President El-Sisi asked the US to take decisive actions against those nations which are supporting terrorism logistically or financially. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/272901/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-stresses-to-US-lawmakers-the-necessity.aspx President El-Sisi has emerged as the key ally of the US when it comes to fulfill the major component of US foreign policy: fighting global terrorism. Egypt is fully committed to ally with the US in the war against terrorism in the region against the Hamas and Hezbollah and other radical groups. Egypt has committed full support to the US policy of confronting Iran in the region. The participation of Egypt in Arab-Islamic-US Summit in Riyadh in June was suggestive of the fact that Egypt would be the part of the new US-backed Sunni block in the Arab region for combatting terrorism and confronting Iran. As far as Arab Peace Process is concerned the US would like to have full support of El-Sisi’s government despite the fact there is little hope for an early resumption of dialogue because of standoff among different stake holders. But in an unanticipated and sudden development the government of Egypt hosted a delegation of Hamas under the leadership of new Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar last week on Jul 2, 2017. https://english.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/news-middle-east/hamas-delegation-visits-egypt The new political bureau chief of Hamas Mr. Haniya hailed the visit and termed it a new page in history of Egypt-Hamas relationship. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/273132/Egypt/Politics-/Hamas-leader-Haniya-hails-new-page-in-relations-wi.aspx He also appreciated the historic roles and support of Egypt to the cause of Palestine. It is worth mentioning here that Egypt in past had accused Hamas of supporting the MBH, a terrorist organization under Egyptian law. The Hamas is also accused of smuggling weapons to the terror groups in Sinai. The change in the approach of Egypt has occurred after Hamas in a new manifesto in February branded itself as an ‘Islamic national liberation movement’ instead of hitherto a branch of Pan-Islamic MBH. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/273132/Egypt/Politics-/Hamas-leader-Haniya-hails-new-page-in-relations-wi.aspx Regionally Egypt’s political and strategic ties with the Saudi Arabia and the other GCC nations like UAE and Bahrain has been cemented once again, which had recently lost its track after Egypt failed to fall in line with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on conflict in Syria , Iraq and Yemen. The decision of handing over two disputed Red Sea islands (Tiran and Sanafir) to Saudi Arabia despite huge demonstration in Egypt and rejection by the Supreme Administrative Court http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/egypt/1.765320 is indicative of the fact that Egypt would not detract from its intended policy of having close ties with the GCC nations. To restore its place in regional politics President El-Sisi was at the forefront in the recent Saudi-led anti-Qatar spat when it too along with other GCC members cut its diplomatic ties with Qatar and put air, maritime and land blockade against Qatar. Qatar has been accused of supporting terrorism, intervening in the internal affairs of the region and providing asylums to terrorists. Last week only Egypt hosted the Quartet meet of boycotting nations and its foreign minister said that global community should exert pressure on Qatar to change its policies in the region. The Egyptian delegation at the UN has accused Qatar of supporting terrorism in Libya where Egypt is fighting its own war against the ISIS which is reportedly involved in many massacres in Egypt. In February, Egypt hosted both Colonel Haftar and Faiez Serraj, head of the Presidency Council in Libya for reconciliation and to break the deadlock for formation of an inclusive government there. In May, Egyptian chief of army staff travelled to Libya in first high profile visit and met Colonel Haftar https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/02/13/hafter-and-serraj-arrive-in-cairo-for-historic-meeting/ who is enjoying the full support of Egypt in his dignity operation against Islamic forces in Libya. Egypt’s support to Colonel Haftar to bolster his fight in Libya can also be seen as an extension of the ideological pursuit in the foreign policy of Egypt. Conclusion: In the light of the above it can be concluded that Egypt rescued itself from being engulfed in violence and conflict, being witnessed in other parts of the region like Syria, Libya and Yemen where sectarian, regional and tribal nature of conflict has overshadowed the demands and concern for democracy. However in the process, President of the country has assumed enormous power to itself. The elected Islamist government of Morsi, no doubt, committed a series of blunders either because of their inexperience or due the ideological baggage of the past. In addition they showed all haste to Islamize both the state and society in accordance with their ideological sloganeering of the past while ignoring other pressing issues in the country. While the army and the secularist forces showed no enthusiasm to concede or share the power with them. Given the embedded role of the army, economic elites and traditional bureaucracy and the subsequent marginalization of other voices either from Islamist block or secularist camp, the political status quo is likely to remain in near future. Moreover the fragile security condition and growing terrorism would also strengthen the current government. As far as national economic growth is concerned, it will take time to achieve its desired goal. The state is making numerous and innovative effort to diversify the source of revenues but it has its own internal and external constraints. Government has introduced many schemes like fund transfer to old-aged people and mid-day meal in schools but its success largely depends on its implementation and execution. The tourism industry - main source of national revenue- has not been able to take off after it has suffered poorly in the span of last five years amidst the turmoil and further the current security situation is not allowing the national tourism to grow at a desired pace. On foreign policy front, the government has opted for an active foreign policy in last three years and is trying very hard to regain its regional stature which it had once enjoyed. After Trump’s coming to power, the country is one of the closest allies of US in the global war against terrorism. In recently concluded Arab-Islamic-US Summit in June 2017, Egypt allied itself with US-Saudi Arabi-UAE trio to combat the growing influence of Iran in the region and fight the menace of terrorism. Of late the government has received many high-level delegation from the EU nations like French Foreign minister visited Egypt twice in very short span of time and in March German Chancellor Markel was in Cairo in addition to a high profile visit of Vatican Pope in April 2017. These visits have been reciprocated too by the President of Egypt and senior government officials. For instance, in last few months, President El-Sisi visited US and many nation of the Arab world. Meanwhile the issue of stopping of military aid form the US is no more on the table in the US Congress after President Trump came to power. The IMF too has been fulfilling the promise of providing US $ 12 billion loan. No doubt the GCC would continue to extend the economic assistance because of the growing military and strategic significance of Egypt in changing strategic environment of the region. In short, the President and his government have consolidated their position. Fazzur Rahman Siddiqui PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 1