Egyptians did it again! Exactly one year after Mohammed Morsi was sworn into office as president before the Supreme Constitutional Court, on June 30, 2013, millions of Egyptians demonstrated, demanding early presidential elections or Morsi’s departure. As Morsi failed to respond to the people’s demands by the end of a 48-hour ultimatum from the military, the armed forces informed Morsi at 7 p.m. on July 3 that he was no longer president. Shortly afterward, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the military, read an eight-minute statement signaling a new transition.

The statement carried several important messages. It explained the many attempts that the military had initiated to alert Morsi to the national security threats facing Egypt as a result of his divisive policies from as early as November 2012, when Morsi issued decrees that put him above the law and placed his decrees outside judiciary scrutiny. A clear warning that the Egyptian state was on the brink of collapse was given by the army chief in January. Sisi also reminded the people that the armed forces had extended several invitations for dialog to end the political deadlock, which were all rejected by the presidency. But the most important message was that the army will not rule as it did in the first transition period after Jan. 25 revolution. Sisi consulted with various political leaders, who included Mohamed ElBaradei, Tamarod young leaders, Al Nour Salafi party, the head of Al-Azhar institution, and the Coptic pope to develop the outline of a “future roadmap” which included appointing Chief Justice Adly Mansour, head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, as interim president per Egyptian constitutional traditions. Mansour was sworn in as president coincidentally on the Fourth of July and will temporarily have the power to issue constitutional declarations while a committee representing various political forces will draft amendments to controversial articles in Egypt’s Constitution.

Many analysts have been busy wondering if this was a coup or a revolution. Most Western media describe what happened as a coup against a democratically elected president. President Obama was careful not to use the word “coup” (defining Morsi’s ouster as a coup could cause a cutoff of US aid to Egypt), but did urge swift return to democracy. The Muslim Brotherhood and many of its supporters do see this as a coup and warned of the consequences. Egyptians supporting the revolution see this exactly as what happened in the Jan. 25 revolution, where the military played a pivotal role in endorsing the revolution — whether directly by publicly recognizing the demands of the protesters at an early stage and pressuring Mubarak to step down, or indirectly by refusing to use force to quell the protests. Egyptians wonder why it is different now and suspect a hidden US agenda and all kinds of conspiracy theories.

Whether this should technically be classified as a revolution, a coup or a “recolution” — a remake of a popular coup following a people’s uprising — most Egyptians reject using the term coup since the Army did not in the end grab power. Deeply relieved, most Egyptians could care less what the correct term is to use. The people have gotten what they wanted and once again asserted their power and ability to change the regime, and they know they can do it again if necessary. Most Egyptians seem to think that Morsi had to be impeached because he unconstitutionally expanded his powers, divided the country and threatened Egypt’s national security and the country’s interests. As one person put it: “If you take a taxi and after a few hundred meters you discover the driver is drunk — and you ask him to stop (or call for early elections) so you can avoid a looming accident, but he refuses — you have no choice but to call the cops.”