The ousted President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, it seems, moved too fast and too autocratically to introduce changes in the country’s constitution that allowed him to concentrate vast powers in his own hands, thereby raising questions about the democratic credentials of his government, which opponents already doubted. Besides, the hope that his government would lift the sagging economy stood dashed as it went into an almost freefall, and a recourse to the IMF was imminent, creating fears that the financing institution’s patent conditionality of ending the subsidies would hit the poor the hardest. That must also have disillusioned even those of Mr Morsi’s supporters who had voted for him in the belief that his rule, the outcome of a democratic process, was a better alternative to Mubarak’s oppressive regime.At the same time, Mr Morsi misjudged the public mood, the gathering storm, against his drive what was interpreted as an attempt to refashion the system of governance to meet the agenda of Akhwanul Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood), the party to which he belonged. Thus, he failed to make amends that could have dispersed the burgeoning crowd, camped in the now world famous Tehrir Square and Nasr Square and other parts of Cairo. His supporters were no less in number and were equally vocal, but they could not deny the changed faced of the constitution. Nor did Mr Morsi pay heed to the military chief’s 48-hour ultimatum to satisfy the protesters, who were accusing him of “betraying the revolution”, or his forces would march in. The State Department, sensing the bloody turmoil getting bloodier (the week-long protest had cost the lives of 50), had urged him to do more to quell the voices of dissent. It is noteworthy that he did propose the installation of a ‘consensus government’ to tide over the worst crisis of his one-year rule.As President Morsi refused to budge from his stand, the defence minister, also the army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled him, recalling the similarity with the choices of both Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, who had ignored senior generals and made Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf as COAS. President Obama has called for a swift return to civilian government and Middle Eastern countries have come out in support of the coup. The latest from Cairo is that head of the Constitutional Court Adly Mansour has been sworn in as interim president till elections, part of the army’s roadmap, are held. But as no date has been fixed for the polls, analysts are not sure whether there will be a long wait before democracy returns.