Op-ed: Egyptian Democracy’s Last Chance?
BY ALVARO DE VASCONCELOS Cairo Egypt’s upcoming general election could help to consolidate its nascent democracy and provide legitimacy to the government’s efforts to address the social, political, economic, and security challenges facing the country. But no election, however successfully conducted, will be enough: Unless Egypt overcomes its current political polarization and builds a broad consensus that includes ruling Islamists and the secular opposition, its problems will persist, jeopardizing the prospect of a democratic future. Egypt’s lack of strong democratic institutions and its ongoing economic crisis are fueling social unrest and crisis, division, and hostility within the political system. At…
Op-ed: Our fabled Arab rulers
BY AMRO ALI Saudi Arabia’s revered King Faisal once remarked: “If anyone feels wrongly treated, he has only himself to blame for not telling me. What higher democracy can there be?” This line of “reasoning” has permeated the thinking of Arab rulers in which somehow they are the personification of a popular mandate and that democratisation is misunderstood by the wider population. Yet it’s one thing when Arab rulers say it, it’s another when the Arab public quotes and endorses it. One of the ideational stumbling blocks to the Arab uprisings and democratic transitions is a public adept at citing…
MB flaunts confrontation chip
BY SARAH EL SIRGANY Cairo: Less than a day before a new president is named, the politically conservative Muslim Brotherhood finds itself at the forefront of a major battle. Having lost parliament and possibly the presidential seat, the group has been forced to defend its gains using tactics that go beyond its usual deal-making and incremental reform approach. In a turbulent week fraught with rumored doomsday scenarios the Brotherhood saw the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) dissolve a parliament led by its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party. Its near win…
Democracy’s growing pains
BY SAFAA ABDOUN Cairo: No sooner were the preliminary results of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak election announced, anger, attacks and accusations rippled through the streets of Egypt. Much to voters’ dismay, the results pit the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi against Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafik in a controversial face-off leading Egyptians back to Tahrir Square. The reaction puts Egyptians’ readiness for democracy into question and anticipates future conflict after the runoff results within a few days. On May 23 around 23.6 million eligible voters cast their votes in Egypt’s first election following the January 25 uprising, approximately 46 percent of…
Does US want democratic Egypt?
BY SARA KHORSHID Cairo: It’s understandable that each country is entitled to pursue its national interests, and that one country’s national interest may partially conflict with that of another. But it’s difficult to comprehend how a country’s interests would be fixated around the Middle East’s stability, and Israel’s security — to the bitter end.Before Egypt’s January 2011 revolution, US President Barack Obama ignored calls by pro-democracy advocates against the American alliance with the ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak. But even the revolution has not been enough proof to convince American decision makers that stability under a US- and Israel-friendly, yet dictatorial…
