Since the Muslim Brotherhood came to power, Egypt had been blighted by petrol and water shortages and power outages. As soon as Egypt’s first democratically elected President was ousted from power the petrol supplies returned to normal, and there have been no power outages since.
Egyptians are delighted, one taxi driver from Cairo told reporters, “For a year, life was very difficult. There were water shortages, power outages, no fuel. But now, everything has returned to normal.”
A local petrol station owner, Achraf Hader, said “Before the demonstrations on June 30, I had to send two employees to negotiate all night in order for us to have enough petrol, and that didn’t always work. Tonight, both pumps are full. And the petrol supplier called to ask if I wanted more!”
Many Egyptians believe the Muslim Brotherhood were blocking supplies to stop protesters from reaching Cairo.
However, many believe the sudden return of power and petrol are signs that supporters of former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, free market economists and the military are behind the shortages. They believe they created unrest within the civilian population, by blocking supplies so as to create the correct atmosphere for protests to begin.