Following the election of Morsi, the Egyptian government failed to implement any economic reform. Tourism, which has previously been the most important sector of the Egyptian economy, has sharply declined. Today Egyptians suffer from power cuts and from gasoline shortages across the country. The revolution has made no tangible improvements on their lives. Foreign currency reserves have fallen sharply and foreign direct investment to Egypt is slow.

Apart from the economic factors, Morsi showed no intention to cooperate with opposing parties and had alienated all the groups who had not voted for him. After his election, he stubbornly insisted on a new constitution for Egypt despite popular opposition. He further aggravated opponents when he expanded his powers beyond the reach of the courts because he found that they were getting in the way of the formation of a new constitution for Egypt. The changes he pushed have been justified by the Brotherhood as something that were necessary in the reshaping of the country’s government.

Morsi also appointed members of the Muslim Brotherhood to government offices that seemed irrational to the Egyptian public. In June, he appointed a member of the Gamaa Islamiya as the governor of Luxor. Apart from concerns that his policies might damage the tourism that thrives in this region, he is suspected to have links to a terrorist attack on tourists in 1997. The uproar over his assignment eventually led the governor to quit his post soon after he had assumed it. Moreover, when Morsi appointed a member of the Muslim Brotherhood to the Ministry of Culture, artists and intellectuals feared that the Brotherhood’s take-over would lead to increased censorship and limits to freedom of expression. Intellectuals and artists occupied the Ministry in order not to allow for a take-over by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Throughout his one-year term, he maintained that he would only refer to elections as the sole source of democracy. Because of this, he failed to engage with his opponents. Consequently, millions gathered in city squares and called on the army to take over government. The military coup toppled the Muslim Brotherhood and an interim president was quickly appointed. The only democratic aspect about the army’s coup was perhaps the popular demand for it. Bringing in military rule goes against the democracy that Egyptians fought so hard for just two years ago. Clashes intensified between the army and the Muslim Brotherhood with a significant number of fatalities sustained by both sides, let alone the civilian deaths registered among Egyptians. Morsy is now in prison as is the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. The elections were scheduled for February 2014 at the latest and until then, democracy in Egypt remains fragile.