The latest from the Times:
The commission had been expected to confirm a winner on Thursday and, based on a public vote count confirmed in official news media, to have named Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The surprise delay intensified a power struggle between the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s military rulers. It came just days after the generals who took over upon the ouster of Hosni Mubarak reimposed martial law, shut down the Brotherhood-led Parliament, issued an interim charter slashing the new president’s power and took significant control over the writing of a new constitution.
Now what?? I was shocked to hear news earlier in the week that the Egyptian military had dissolved the recently elected parliament and was surprised both by the lack of explanation for it and for the apparent lack of demonstrations materializing once more in Tahrir Square. Perhaps the Egyptians were too exhausted from the last uprising and hoped that the impending elections would resolve the problem. Obviously support for the Muslim Brotherhood is a complicated question, even given its gains by democratic election but also a suspect working of the system. I wonder if the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence is the reason Andrew Sullivan hasn’t posted, where he has been a tireless blogger about Egypt’s revolution otherwise.
Sure, we may not like that an Islamist party won the election, but isn’t that the point of democracy? You get who the people voted for, not who you wanted the system to vote for. The U.S. has a long history of sending in the CIA to do the dirty work of getting our government’s interests taken care of, democracy be damned. And look how well that’s worked out for us. So why don’t we buck up and actually support the process for what it is; it’s for voters to figure out their own mistakes, if they make them, and vote differently in the next election. At this point I’m more worried by the egregious oversteps of the Egyptian military. Dissolving parliament at will? Instituting martial law? Declaring whatever rules they like despite their promises to adhere to the new constitution? How is this not a greater threat to democracy than the Muslim Brotherhood?
angryXer 