Arabi 21 - Yahya Hamid: We count on the Egyptian people to defeat the coup

Yahya Hamid, President Morsi’s Minister of Investment, has said that the anti-coup forces count not on any foreign factor but principally on the awareness and determination of the Egyptian people as well as on the increasing rejection within the people’s ranks “of the attempts by the coup perpetrators to return Egypt to the era of the despotic military state”.

In an exclusive interview given to Arabi 21, Hamid said that there has been some negative impact on the anti-coup forces due to what some media disseminated in the aftermath of the signing of the Riyad Document by the Gulf states to the effect of alleging that personalities and currents that support legitimacy – and at the heart of which happens to be the Muslim Brotherhood – will be the main victims of any Gulf concord. He also said that London and not the Muslim Brotherhood will be the real loser as a result of succumbing to the dictates of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and ordering an inquiry into the Brotherhood.

Hamid added: “Such (media) analysis is nothing but wishful thinking on the part of those that support the coup or act at its behest. Our stance is unwavering and it emanates from purely internal Egyptian reckoning. We shall continue to resist the coup until it is toppled and until the attempts to return Egypt to the era of military rule are thwarted. It is the people of Egypt living on the proud land of Egypt who will decide and not any external state whether hostile or friendly.”

Hamid, who was the second youngest minister in Egypt’s modern history, alluded to the importance of the role played by the youth in the Egyptian revolution and said: “The conscientious Egyptian youth are the ones who lead the revolution on the streets. In pursuing peaceful change, we count on the efforts made by these youth who are aware of the magnitude of the challenges (facing them) and they know full well the volume of the foreign aid accorded to the coup perpetrators. Yet, these (youth) are determined to continue the revolution until they bring the coup down and regain freedom and restore dignity for the Egyptian citizen.”

Asked by Arabi 21 about (why) the Egyptian (military) regime is still continuing (to be there) despite the passage of more than nine months since the coup, Hamid answered: “Revolutions require patience and peaceful change requires time. As it has been said ‘victory is the fruit of an hour’s patience’. We are ready to be patient for as long as it takes. Thanks to our faith in God, to our confidence in the justness of our cause and to the support of our people, we are capable of confronting all the internal and external conspiracies and of enduring until we achieve victory for our people. We shall pursue peaceful struggle for the sake of our country no matter how long this takes or how much effort and sacrifices it requires. The march of the Muslim Brotherhood along several decades has proven this (to be the case). Victory is inevitable, God willing. Once this is accomplished our people will not forget who stood by them and who conspired against them.