Only a handful of countries support the military coup

Nigeria’s rejection of Adli Mansour’s delegation shed light on the increasing number of countries that have rejected the July 3 coup against President Mohammad Morsi. The number of countries that reject the military intervention is much larger than the number of those that support it, which is limited to America and its allies.

The African Union (consisting of 54 countries) announced from its headquarters in Addis Ababa, that it has suspended Egypt’s membership in protest against the coup. The Union’s Council for Peace and Security suspended Egypt’s membership based on “the unconstitutional manner in which authority was attained” in Egypt.

Ernest Bai Kormoba, the President of Sierra Leone condemned the military coup in Egypt. “As a member of the African Union we do not support any form of military intervention against a president who was democratically elected.”

The Islamist leader of the Sudanese opposition Hassan al-Turabi condemned the isolation of Mohammad Morsi and deemed what happened in Egypt “a coup against democracy and legitimacy.” Turabi said that “Morsi was the first leader to be democratically elected and to issue a constitution that was accepted by the people.”

Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki also announced Tunisia’s rejection of the coup in Egypt, “The military coup against President Morsi is rejected internationally and will do nothing more than worsen the political crisis rather than alleviate it.”

Turkey agreed with Tunisia in its rejection of the coup and does not recognize the new regime as legitimate. Ahmet Davutoglu, the minister of foreign affairs stated that the Egyptian Army’s decision to depose President Mohamad Morsi is “unacceptable” and that what happened in Egypt was not a revolution but a military coup.

In addition to Iran’s rejection of the Military coup, Brazil also announced its refusal to recognize the illegal regime that gained its power in a military takeover as opposed to being legally elected through the ballot box.

Germany considers the coup in Egypt to be a ‘democratic failure’ and encouraged ‘Egypt to return to constitutional order as soon as possible.’

French president François Hollande also criticized the coup against the democratic process in Egypt; “the democratic process in Egypt has been stopped and it is imperative that it returns as soon as possible.”

The Belgian government also announced its rejection of the coup because it goes against the legitimacy that the Egyptian people fought for. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign affairs Didier Reynders said; “No sane person could have expected what happened and the military overthrow of President Morsi is a coup against both democracy and legitimacy. Egypt will never achieve a legitimate democracy under military rule.”

The rejection of the military coup is not limited to governments alone; newspapers all around the world have also been expressing their opinions on the matter. On the second day of the coup, The New York times published an article stating that regardless of President Morsi’s performance, he was a democratically elected leader and the army’s overthrow of him is nothing short of a military coup. The tragedy will only worsen if the Egyptian people allow for their successful revolution, which ousted military dictator Hosni Mubarak, to end with the army’s refusal to accept democracy. The article emphasized that Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood will have to play a role in any future governments and that any refusal to acknowledge this point will make democracy in Egypt nothing more than a lie.

Furthermore, USA today posed the following question; ‘If its possible to cancel elections so easily and so quickly, how can any future candidates trust in the election process again or consider it as a peaceful way to attain power?” The newspaper portrayed what happened Egypt earlier this month as a mob’s (supported by the military) overthrow of a government that was elected merely a year ago.

As for Algeria and Sudan, both countries decided to take a moderate stance. They encouraged Egyptians to reach an agreement that promotes unity, national reconciliation, and respect for the constitution in the hopes that this will satisfy “the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people.”

Report by Jibreel Mohammad