Revolution belongs to Egypt's people

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The Socialist Alliance recognises and welcomes the June 30-July 3, 2013, popular mobilisations of the Egyptian people, led by youth, for democracy, human rights and social and economic justice that brought down the regime of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Socialist Alliance notes that the number of Egyptians who participated in the protests was higher than the number who voted for Morsi, as was the number of Egyptians who signed the Tamarod petition calling for the president to step down.

At the same time, the Socialist Alliance condemns the violent and repressive measures of the Egyptian armed forces since July 3, in particular the July 8 massacre of more than 50 unarmed supporters of the Morsi government and the arbitrary detention of Morsi and other leaders and functionaries of the deposed regime.

The Socialist Alliance believes the revolution belongs to the Egyptian people not the armed forces.

On July 3 this year, as on February 11, 2011, the armed forces “went over to the people” in order to steal the fruits of popular rebellion and maintain the rule of Egypt’s foreign-backed elites in the face of changed realities created by mass people’s struggle.

The Socialist Alliance condemns the annual $1.3 billion subsidy paid by the US to the repressive Egyptian Armed Forces so that they can play the role of arbiter in Egyptian politics for the benefit of Western strategic and economic interests.

The Morsi government was elected with the approval of the military. The US and the military were complicit in many of the crimes of the Morsi government that alienated the people, including strategic collaboration with the US and Israel and most significantly the implementation of neoliberal economic policies that deny justice to the Egyptian people.

The Socialist Alliance calls for justice with respect to all crimes against the people by the armed forces, the Morsi regime, the Tantawi regime and the Mubarak regime. At the same time, the Socialist Alliance calls for all those detained accused of crimes to be accorded due process.

The Socialist Alliance supports those who are calling for an immediate return to civilian rule and a civilian-led process to democratically create a new government and a new constitution.

The Socialist Alliance recognises that no Egyptian government can satisfy the needs of the Egyptian people as long as it is beholden to the diktats of Western-controlled financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

As such, the Socialist Alliance recognises the struggles of the Egyptian masses as part of the worldwide struggle against neoliberal globalisation.

The Socialist Alliance expresses full solidarity with those in the mass movement, including the left-wing parties in the Coalition of Socialist Forces, seeking to counter the political influence of the military and elite political forces over the mass movement.

From GLW issue 973