Newspapers followed the impact of the ouster of Mohamed Morsi just one year after he took office and the formation of the new government. Al-Shorouk on Monday had ‘Al-Baradei sworn in as vice president, and Al-Beblawi forming the government'. Al-Wafd wrote ‘Army tightens grip on Sinai'. Al-Akhbar on Sunday wrote ‘Brotherhood plans to overthrow regime and the password is “Battle of Badr”'. Al-Watan on Sunday provided readers with the MB plan against the people and the army and the details of the Brotherhood's international organisation and a Hamas meeting in Turkey to discuss the crisis facing the group. Writers also looked at developments since 30 June. Mahmoud Omara started by “thanking God that Egyptians had regained their smile after they presented to the world a unique formula as to how to depose a dictator in 18 days via peaceful demonstrations and another formula on how to fix an accurate date and time for ousting another president.” However, Omara pointed to the importance of focussing on building Egypt. To start with himself, he wrote that after Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr, he will “present again some of the initiatives that fell on deaf ears in the past, namely a project to prepare a database for young potential leaders 25 to 50 years old so that their CVs will be ready whenever the country needs a minister, a prime minister or a top official”. He concluded his article in the independent daily Al-Watan by sending messages to the interim president which include pursuing all the supporters of Morsi before they abort the revolution, expelling the US ambassador because of her flagrant intervention in Egypt's internal affairs and engaging in genuine reform “as its absence will lead to the eruption of a third revolution”. Abdel-Aziz Mahmoud saw that the present conflict is between those who want to go backward and those who are looking to the future. However, Mahmoud wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram “we are back to square one because we failed to conduct a transition to democracy in a state that rejects resorting to the mechanisms of democracy”. He recalled when Egypt and South Korea were in the same boat, economically wise. But Korea chose the path of democracy and development while Egypt selected the one-party and one-leader regime and passed through various failed experiments. Thus, Mahmoud added, “the only hope for us is to take the path to democracy as it is the only way for a power rotation and a better economy”. He did not expect the establishment of a modern democratic state overnight. “We need time.” “Democracy is not only free elections or the ability to gather millions of protesters in the streets. It is a long journey that takes time until the people learn how to rule themselves and fight for their freedom, dignity and welfare,” Mahmoud concluded. Safwat Kabil warned that we are heading for civil war. He wrote that these days are more difficult than war because in wars, “we fight a common enemy, but these days we are fighting each other.” As a result “we are exaggerating in showing enmity towards each other. The new revolutionaries see that the MB is a traitor group that cooperated with external countries and looted the country. Meanwhile, the MB described what happened as a coup launched by a group of traitors and fulul” (remnants of the old regime), Kabil wrote in the independent daily Al-Shorouk. The accusations have led to an escalation in violence and in the number of dead and injured. In an attempt to find a way out, the writer suggested a two-step plan: the MB should acknowledge that it failed in running the country and its attempt to monopolise power was a mistake. Second, the army should amend the roadmap in order to elect a president straight away. That president should stay for one year, during which a constitution will be drafted and parliamentary elections held. Galal Dweidar focussed on the improvement of Egyptian-Gulf relations after 30 June. He noted that he wrote few weeks ago about the freeze in relations between Egypt and the Arab Gulf countries ever since the MB came to power. He ascribed that to the MB's conspiracy policies. These countries, Dweidar explained, were frustrated by the policies of the MB especially those states which opened its doors to the members of the group in the past. When the group managed to usurp the 25 January Revolution, it was under the impression that the door was wide open for more conspiracies against these states. As a result all the Arab Gulf states –- except Qatar — froze their investment in Egypt during the MB's reign. However, the fall of the MB was a pretext for resuming warm relations with Egypt. “After the fall of the MB, Egypt regained its status in the heart of the Arab world,” Dweidar summed up his column in the official daily Al-Akhbar. Wagdi Zeineddin commented on the meeting of the Brotherhood's international organisation in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the reasons for the fall of the group in Egypt. He wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party, that among the reasons described during the meeting is the opposition of other Islamist currents, especially the Salafis, to the rule of the MB. National opposition in general was also regarded as another reason for the failure of the MB because they do not like to work with the MB. They also added that the army helped the opposition in ending the Brotherhood's rule. However, Zeineddin wrote, the international organisation drew up a plan for the revival of the MB by following a few steps like encouraging the US to show enmity to Egypt and to stop US aid; tarnishing the image of national opposition figures; considering whoever took part in 30 June revolution a traitor; dividing the ranks of the army; starting civil disobedience until the MB regains its status and returning to underground activities in order to spread chaos among the people. In light of these plans, Zeineddin did not find any difficulty in calling the organisation and its branch in Egypt “terrorists and traitors”.
