Commentary: Morsi's trial not a panacea for Egypt

Bringing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to trial on Monday may not help rid Egypt of social unrest because of the gap between pro- and anti-Morsi camps.

Just more than one year ago, Morsi defeated Ahmed Shafik, a former prime minister during Hosni Mubarak's presidency, in a presidential election.

Morsi, who then pressured the judicial system to accelerate the trial against his predecessor Mubarak, now faces trial.

The Muslim Brotherhood, once the "most compact organization" in Egypt, was forced underground after the military deposed Morsi, arrested other top leaders and dispersed the massive protests it organized.

The dramatic experience of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood is the result of a severe struggle in Egypt's politics.

In the past one year, the military, together with other parties such as the judiciary, ousted the president, making use of its rich fighting experience and Egyptians' discontent with Morsi's rule.

The military and the interim government are also expected to wipe out the underground Muslim Brotherhood, which has not given up resistance, through Morsi's trial.

However, the trial cannot solve the Egypt issue once and for all.

Firstly, it may arouse more waves of pro-Morsi protests. Although the Muslim Brotherhood has suffered a massive blow, it still has a large number of supporters, who demonstrated nationwide on the trial day.

Facing such a situation, the authorities changed the venue less than one day before the trial and banned its live telecast.

It is expected the possibility of violent conflict will increase during the course of the trial.

Secondly, the trial against Morsi will probably not end in the short term.

Mubarak's trial has not yielded any results since it started in August 2012, and has exhausted a lot of public resources.

Morsi's trial can only be more difficult. Government and judicial departments not only have to counter massive protests and demonstrations, but also prevent rising violence and attacks, which will use up more human and material resources that could be allocated to revitalizing the economy and improving people's lives.

In a word, Morsi's trial brings the Egyptian authorities both opportunities and challenges. After three years of turmoil, the people are longing for stability. Any strategy, if it cannot solve the issue of economic stagnation quickly, will lose popular support and come to nothing.