This was a negotiated settlement. CS Monitor reported on Friday.
As showdown with military looms, Egypt liberals back Muslim Brotherhood The Egyptian military has offered the Muslim Brotherhood a choice: give us sweeping powers, or lose the presidency.
Islamist Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected president of Egypt with 51.7 percent of last weekend’s run-off vote, defeating former general Ahmed Shafiq, the state election committee said on Sunday.
He succeeds Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown 16 months ago after a popular uprising. The military council which has ruled the biggest Arab nation since then has this month curbed the powers of the presidency, meaning the head of state will have to work closely with the army on a planned democratic constitution.
Voter turnout at the runoff election was 51.85 percent, the chief of chief of Egypt’s election commission said.
Thousands of Brotherhood supporters burst into cheers on Cairo’s Tahrir Square, waving national flags and chanting “Allahu Akbar!” or God is Great, greeting a dramatic victory.
Morsi, a 60-year-old, U.S.-educated engineer who spent time in jail under Mubarak, won the first round ballot in May with a little under a quarter of the vote. He has pledged to form an inclusive government to appeal to the many Egyptians, including a large Christian minority, who are anxious over religious rule.
The military council will retain control of the biggest army in the Middle East, whose closest ally is the United States. Morsi has said he will respect international treaties, notably that signed with Israel in 1979, on which much U.S. aid depends.
“President Morsi will struggle to control the levers of state,” Elijah Zarwan, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in Cairo.
“He will likely face foot-dragging and perhaps outright attempts to undermine his initiatives from key institutions. Faced with such resistance, frustration may tempt him fall into the trap of attempting to throw his new weight around,” Zarwan told Reuters. “This would be a mistake.
Bull. Once again the enemedia provides cover for the enemy.
By supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, the Obama administration has obviously lost its marbles . Here is what a real expert on the Middle East, Prof Bernard Lewis, said in his new book, Notes on a Century – Reflections of a Middle East Historian – page 342
I am mistrustful and view with apprehension a genuine free election – assuming that such a thing could happen – because the religious parties have an immediate advantage. First, they have a network of communication through the preacher and mosque which no other political group can hope to equal. Second, they use, familiar, indigenous, language. The language of Western democracy is for the most part newly translated and the concepts are not readily intelligible to the general population. A dash towards Western-style elections, far from representing a solution to the region’s difficulties, constitutes a dangerous aggravation of the problem and I fear that radical Islamic movements are ready to exploit so misguided a move. In genuine fair and free elections , the Muslim parties are very likely to win. A much better course would be a gradual development of democracy, not through general elections, but rather through civil society and the strengthening of local institutions. For that, there is a real tradition in the region.
As long as Obama will remain in command,islamic extremists,blessed by his friendly comprehension and support,will be able to take country after country and increase their harmful capacities
Who said “egyptian spring” was not an islamist operation?
For the present and near future, the real power in Egypt remains in the hands of the armed forces; which, of course, the Ilkwan will attempt to subvert.
I care not even remotely about democracy in Egypt, and for purposes of serving the interests of Israel, I hope all the Arab mobs in all the Arab states are firmly held under the clampdown of kings, dictators and military rulers. Where these potentates, dictators and military functionaries lose their power, the Arab street mobs will begin baying for the blood of the Jews, and will push to foment war against Israel. That can be turned to Israel’s advantage only if Zahal is sent into action to destroy the front-line enemy forces, but leaving the enemy government enough military power to re-enslave the street masses, and annexing in whole or in part the lands from which they threatened Israel. This is especially true in cases such as the Sinai peninsula, which is largely uninhabited. That should be retaken and annexed the first time there is sufficient provocation to attack.
And before that occurs, I sincerely hope Israel can negotiate military and economic understandings with Russia and China which would provide Israel diplomatic cover at the Security Council in which they both hold permanent seats in the otherwise-useless and dysfunctional UNO.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI