Six out of ten support the removal of President Mohammed Morsi from power

Six out of 10 Egyptians say they support the removal of President Mohammed Morsi from power, a new poll by YouGov reveals.

31% say they oppose his removal while 7% say they neither support nor oppose and 1% say they don’t know.

A closer analysis of the results reveals big differences in opinions between Egyptians: around six out of ten of those who voted for Morsi in the Presidential run-off Election against Ahmed Shafiq oppose his removal whereas 95% of those who voted for Shafiq support President Morsi’s removal. Of those who did not vote in the Presidential run-off election, 81% say they support the removal of President Morsi.

Overall, six out of ten say recent events are best characterised as ‘an attempt to rescue the country’ rather than ‘a coup’. However, once again, the poll reveals significant differences between different voter groups. Six out of ten of those who voted for Morsi in the Presidential run-off Election say ‘a coup’ compared to 1% of those who voted for Shafiq.

The months before the Army took over

When asked to think back to back to the months before the Army took over, overall, more than half say things were getting worse and around three out of ten say things were improving.

However, once again, different voter groups have very different feelings. More than half of those who voted for Morsi say things were improving compared to 10% of Shafiq supporters.

The next 12 months

Overall, when given a choice between a civilian government or the Army in charge in 12 months, around six out of ten say a civilian government and around three out of ten say the Army. However, significant differences exist between voter groups: A large majority (80%) of Morsi supporters say they want a civilian government in charge whereas less than half (43%) of Shafiq supporters say the same. Indeed, more than half (54%) of Shafiq supporters say they want to see the Army in charge in 12 months.

Optimism for the future has declined since the revolution of early 2011. In February 2011 we asked the same respondents how they thought the overall situation would change. Then, 85% said the situation in the country would improve. Nowadays, 53% say things will improve in the next few months and 61% that things will improve in the next few years.

The research results are based on an online survey conducted by YouGov on a sample of 898 Egyptians between 5th August to 25th August 2013. The final sample has been calibrated in terms of gender, age and past vote (Presidential 1st round) and is largely representative the profile of the Egypt population.