If the message of the protest is not updated, it will fail. We must stop playing Bibi’s show.

On the second anniversary of the coup d’état, we can see that it serves its creators whether it succeeds or not. The democratic protest, no matter how strong, plays into the coalition’s hands because it diverts attention from the dysfunction, corruption, and erosion of public welfare. For the coalition, the coup is a “win-win”: if it succeeds, it will entrench its control; if it fails, it will strengthen its circle of supporters, who despise the “rule of the elites” and hide its demise from them. Meanwhile, the power of the court will wane. It cannot withstand the outbreak when it is portrayed as serving one side of a divided public, and the gatekeepers are slowly being replaced.