A downtown debate over Egypt
Posted Aug 18, 2013 5:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A peaceful debate over a violent topic.
Two speakers presented arguments downtown on 17 Ave. and 8th St. S.W. in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and one in support of the military intervention.
Mohamed Hassanin, a Masters student at the University of Calgary says the Morsi government was democratically elected and the process must move forward.
He says, “The person with the most amount of votes gets to lead the nation for a number of years, it’s important for us to follow and promote this type of process. If we are to neglect it, then no one is going to ever look into the democratic process again.” Hassanin adds the military has come in and taken away the roots of democracy planted within the region.
Hassanin would meet opposition from Egyptian political scientist Gamal Selim who says this was no coup. “The military intervention was inevitable, was necessary to protect Egypt from facing a civil war scenario,” says Selim.
He says the people of Egypt are behind what he calls a revolution and gave the Morsi government plenty of warning about his over reaches in power.
Both Selim and Hassanin have lived in Egypt and still have family in the region; they disagree on many topics, but are both pleaing for the violence to end.
