Five reasons Brotherhood will continue to lose in Egypt
The Muslim Brotherhood’s recent history of miscalculation has cost the Egyptian revolution and limited the Brothers’ future options.
Almost three years have passed since Jan. 25, 2011, and the political scene in Egypt has gone through drastic changes. Some of the few constants, however, are the persistent miscalculations by the Muslim Brotherhood and its catastrophic choices that have consistently harmed the revolution and its goals.
One strategic miscalculation was their running for the presidency after winning a majority in parliament, putting all the responsibility on themselves — which they could not possibly handle — and cornering themselves in a very volatile situation of economic crisis and a revolutionary state.
They then did not miss any chances to make enemies or dismantle democratic infrastructure. Their first enemy, unfortunately, had once been an ally: the secular movement that had spearheaded the revolution.
Between aligning with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to pass constitutional amendments in March 2011; the presidential decree that placed then-President Mohammed Morsi and his decrees above the law, the constitution and even the judiciary; and appointing a public prosecutor that functioned more as a private one, the Muslim Brothers managed to unite almost every political organization in Egypt against them. Sending their "militias" to disperse a sit-in at the gates of the presidential palace and torture people — some of whom were previous comrades — was for many people the point of no return for reconciliation with the Brotherhood.
