Egypt uprising of 2011 occurred after collaborative efforts from various interested groups. The elites and non-elites participated at different scales and levels. The Egyptians had tolerated poverty, political oppression, and corruption for decades. As a result, human rights and labor activists alongside NGOs begun protesting the government. During 2010, just before elections, the Muslim Brotherhood, a group of youths that defied the government and Mohammed ElBaradei’s campaign for reforms got a national attention especially when the Mubarak attempted to install his son Gamal as heir. The government machinations suppressed most of the activist. Police killed Khaled Said triggering on online campaign in response to the police brutality. The Muslim Brotherhood, the April 6 Movement, The Gabha Party, The ElBaradei Campaign, and The Freedom and Justice movement formed a majority of the elite leadership in the Egypt uprising (Cambanis).
On January 17, 2011, an Egyptian man set himself ablaze outside the parliament building in Cairo protesting government repression. Other Egyptians staged similar protests and on January 25, 2011, crowds formed in various cities protesting political repression and poverty. Police clashed with the protesters creating an escalation of the unrest. Clashes continued, and the arrival of Mohamed ElBaradei on January 27, 2011, a prominent critic of Mubarak boosted the protests. With intensified antigovernment protests, Mubarak imposed a curfew on January 28, 2011, in an attempt to control the unrest. After sustained pressure from the Public, Mubarak resigned on February 11, 2011, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took over announcing that it would hand over power to a civilian elected president (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica).
The protests aim was to topple the government. In this respect, the uprising achieved its most primary objective. However, disagreements arose between the interim government that succeeded Mubarak and protesters with the latter claiming that the transitional government continued oppressive practices. The country was able to hold elections for parliament and president that led to the announcement of Mohammed Morsi as the president in June 2012. However, Morsi did not rule for long as he attempted to advance the ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took over after the nation passed a new Constitution in 2013. Although political oppression reduced significantly, there are traces of it mainly targeting the Muslim Brotherhood. Further, poverty remains a problem due to stalling of structural reforms. Bureaucracy remains high derailing investment. The ease-of-doing-business index ranks Egypt one hundred and thirty-one globally and one-hundred and sixteen on the global competitiveness index of the World Economic Forum (Egypt Five Years after the Uprising). Therefore, the country has a long way to go towards achieving all the primary objectives.
Works cited
"Egypt Five Years after the Uprising." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 22 June 2016. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist- explains/2016/01/economist-explains-15>.
Cambanis, Thanassis. "Egypt's Revolutionary Elite and the Silent Majority." Middle East Institutite. N.p., 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 22 July 2016. <http://www.mei.edu/content/egypts- revolutionary-elite-and-silent-majority>.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Egypt Uprising of 2011." Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., 2011. Web. 22 June 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/event/Egypt-Uprising-of- 2011>.
