Mohamed Morsi
As thousands of people head for Tahrir Square it is clear that Mohamed Morsi is in a crisis of his own making. As the first fairly elected leader of Egypt he should be looking to be the father of a democratic nation, instead he has 24 hours to quell the disquiet of the people and resist a potential coup from the army. It seems that Mohamed Morsi has played his political hand extremely badly when he had everything in his favour.
After the people forced out Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Botherhood led by Mohamed Morsi looked to have timed their political machinations perfectly, just like a clever check raise in poker. Not being seen as the people who got rid of Mubarak but gaining all the plaudits of unifying the nation in a clearly free and fair election.
The Muslim Brotherhood could not mess this up, but the did. They went for seriously undemocratic manoeuvres. One of the first significant thing he did was give himself unlimited powers to “protect” the nation. He also gave himself and his party the right to legislate without judicial review. It would be like over playing a pair of Nines pre-flop, a good hand but not unbeatable. This was compounded when he gave a former terrorist who may have been responsible for the killing of tourist, governorship of a tourist area.
All these things could have been tolerated if the economic situation was improving but at the moment only a crazy person would want to invest in Egypt when those that brought down a dictatorship have had their dreams shattered and are heading for a religious dictatorship. The people protesting do not want another dictatorship and definitely not a religious dictatorship. In poker terms Mohamed Morsi has over played his hand and those non-religious intellectuals and unrepresented minorities need a leader that will bring people together in a rational thinking democracy.