CAIRO, Egypt - In his electrical hardware shop, a stone’s throw from Cairo’s Tahrir Square that has been the epicenter of protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, owner Mustafa leafs through his accounts in despair.
His business has been going downhill over the past two years, and he reckons he will have to close down within months, unless things change.
“The economy is bad and there is no sign of improvement,” the 28-year-old lamented. “And with the square closing at least every two weeks, business is plunging,” he complained.
Tahrir Square, the de facto heart of the Egyptian Revolution, is still home to protesters, two years after Mubarak’s fall. It is often the scene of clashes, and therefore regularly closed to traffic by the police, and avoided by the public.
To Mustafa, the Muslim Brotherhood party President Mohamed Morsi, who succeeded Mubarak, is to blame. Mustafa himself voted for Morsi, but sourly regrets it.
“We had no choice,” he said, explaining that voting for Ahmed Shafik, a former Mubarak minister and Morsi’s rival in the election, would have meant “more Mubarak.”
“As a Muslim, I supported the Muslim Brotherhood, but they keep disappointing,” he added.
Mustafa believes that the Brotherhood is responsible for the country's economic crisis, and that the clashes he blames for his business failing are a direct result of their failure.
“Ninety-nine percent of protesters are there in opposition to the brothers, and they vandalize the square to destabilize the government. I want a new president as well, but not at the price of another revolution and more instability,” he explained.
In the nearby Crystal Bakery, workers agreed with Mustafa. Mohamed Saber, 35, and Abdel Hady, 48, said they were sick of the constant clashes. They explained that 70 percent of their customers are from outside the neighborhood, who either cannot access the square when it is closed, or are afraid to come.
Both said they had supported Morsi, and acknowledged they regret having done so. According to them, the majority of the voters feel that way.
That same sentiment was echoed around the capital’s Moqatam district, where the Brotherhood has its headquarters, and which witnessed fierce clashes in late March, when opposition members started a protest.
Dr. Isham Anan, who owns a pharmacy on the same street as the Brotherhood’s offices, said that the clashes forced him to close his shop for five days. “There is no work because of the economy, and now we also have to deal with tear gas and gunfire? It is ridiculous!” he complained.
Anan said that, although he voted for Shafik, the majority of the neighborhood was at first supportive of the Brotherhood. Now, he says, they are disillusioned.
Hishah Mohammed, 19, who owns a grocery shop on the same street, concurred. His shop and merchandise were damaged by petrol bombs during the last clashes. “People are afraid to come here; this neighborhood is associated with the Brotherhood. It brings instability to the entire area,” he complained.
Because of Egypt's current political instability, the causes and actors behind the trouble are difficult to pinpoint. Some blame the opposition or protesters and others talk of hired thugs or are quick to blame new groups such as the “Black Bloc” anarchists.
Tensions escalated in late March, when Tahrir shop owners set fire to tents set up in the square by protesters.
“They are not protesters, most of them are ex-convicts,” said Mohammed. “They are paid to be there, otherwise how could they be able to do nothing all day but sit around?” he asked.
“People are fed up with these thugs,” said the owner of a shop selling bags, who did not want to be named. “All of the shop owners say they didn't join in the fighting, but I know most of them did,” he said. “They all have business around the square, and I can't blame them for what they did,” he added, claiming he was not among those who took part in the clashes with protesters.
With the constant deterioration of the economy, and clashes occurring nearly every week, the Muslim Brotherhood's reputation can only plummet, unless it finds a way to halt the plunging economy.
