{"id":15663,"date":"2013-07-08T15:18:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T20:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/challenge-for-egypt-finding-leaders-with-wide-support\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:30:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:30:26","slug":"challenge-for-egypt-finding-leaders-with-wide-support","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/07\/08\/challenge-for-egypt-finding-leaders-with-wide-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge for Egypt: Finding leaders with wide support"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Protestors<\/a>
Protestors shout anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans at a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on July 5. (AP Photo\/Amr Nabil)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

The turmoil in Egypt turned increasingly violent on Monday when Egyptian soldiers fired<\/a> on hundreds of supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi<\/a>, killing at least 51 civilians. The violence followed a chaotic political week in which two of the key players \u2013 both unpopular with the Egyptian public \u2013 illustrated the difficulty in finding a leader who can overcome the country\u2019s divisions.<\/p>\n\n

Egyptian state media had reported<\/a> on Saturday that Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize-winning former diplomat regarded as a liberal and secularist, was in line to become interim prime minister. But that appointment was soon derailed by objections from the conservative Islamist al-Nour party<\/a>, which had provided cover for the military by backing the ouster of Morsi.<\/p>\n\n

\"FT_Pol_Orgs\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Neither ElBaradei, the National Salvation Front party (NSF) to which he belongs nor al-Nour are regarded favorably by the Egyptian public, according a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted in March. Over half (54%) regarded ElBaradei unfavorably, compared to 40% who had positive views of him. Similarly, Egyptians regarded the NSF unfavorably by a 52% to 45% margin, and al-Nour unfavorably by 52% to 40%.<\/p>\n\n

In fact, the data appear to mirror the factions on the streets of Tahrir Square \u2013 not a single leader seems to capture overwhelming favorability from the public.<\/p>\n\n

Ironically, despite Egyptians\u2019 increasingly glum mood<\/a> about the economy and pessimism about the future, only Morsi and the now-embattled Muslim Brotherhood received on balance positive marks from the public in the March survey. Yet, Morsi\u2019s positive ratings were not overwhelming either \u2013 53% saw him favorably, 43% did not.<\/p>\n\n

Egypt\u2019s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that took over Morsi\u2019s government, was seen favorably in March by 67% of the public. The only other figure or institution that enjoys support from a sizable majority was the Muslim Brotherhood (63%). But that figure represented a decline from 75% in 2011 and 70% last year; and, the ratings of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood\u2019s political wing, were about the same as those of Morsi \u2013 about half (52%) seeing the party favorably and 44% regarding it unfavorably.<\/p>\n\n

The standing with the public of Egypt\u2019s interim president, Adly Mansour<\/a>, is also uncertain. Mansour had been the head of Egypt\u2019s Supreme Constitutional Court, an institution regarded favorably by 50% of the public and unfavorably by 47%.<\/p>\n\n

\"FT_Most_Say\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

A key factor in shaping political attitudes are the beliefs among Egyptians about the proper role of Islam in politics and the country\u2019s affairs. More than seven-in-ten (72%) of Egyptians who believe the country\u2019s laws should strictly follow the Quran have a favorable view of Morsi, who came to office with the backing of Islamist groups. Just 23% of ElBaradei followers hold that view, with 64% saying laws should only follow the values and principles of Islam and not be influenced by the Quran.<\/p>\n\n

Among FJP and al-Nour supporters, large majorities say the country\u2019s laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran, while less than half of NSF supporters agree.<\/p>\n\n

NSF supporters are also much less likely to favor Egypt\u2019s new constitution<\/a>, whose passage in 2012 was seen as a victory for Morsi and his supporters.<\/p>\n\n

The divisions between the Islamists and secularists are evident in other measures. About half of those who have a favorable opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated FJP and the Salafist al-Nour party are satisfied with the country\u2019s direction, while only 20% of those having a favorable view of the relatively secular NSF share this view.<\/p>\n\n

\"FT_Grim_News\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

One result of the continued political instability is that a majority (56%) of Egyptians said in March they were dissatisfied with the way democracy was working compared to 43% who said they were satisfied. And, perhaps even more telling was the finding that only 39% said Egypt was better off without deposed leader Hosni Mubarak compared to 30% who said the country was worse off (26% answered \u201cboth\u201d or \u201cneither\u201d).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Political unrest continued in Egypt after a chaotic political week in which two of the key players \u2013 both unpopular with the Egyptian public \u2013 illustrated the difficulty in finding a leader who can overcome the country\u2019s divisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,326,115],"bylines":[859],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[514,510],"research-teams":[525],"class_list":["post-15663","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-leaders","category-news-media-trends","category-world-leaders","bylines-bruce-drake","formats-short-read","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-middle-east-north-africa","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short 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