Op-ed: The role of religion in politics
BY HISHAM EZZ EL-ARAB What can Egypt learn from Turkey? (Part I) A common phrase in Turkey, where I have been living for the past three years, is ‘yavash, yavash.’ In English it means ‘slowly, slowly,’ and in Arabic ‘shwaye, shwaye’. It is often used in conversations about Turkey’s political transitions, which have been as massive and unexpected as those in Egypt over the past century. The popular election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party to a parliamentary majority, along with the unexpected success of Salafi parties, then the success of Dr. Mohamed Morsy in the presidential elections,…
Compromise and the revolution
BY NOUR BAKR At its height, the defining mantra of Egypt’s tumultuous uprising was the famous cry “the people want the fall of the regime.” That the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), along with many remnants of the Mubarak era remain key players in the country’s politics is widely held as proof that the revolution ultimately failed. Whilst partially true, the electoral successes of the Muslim Brotherhood do not, as many have argued, completely betray the ultimate aim of the uprising. Rather the successive victories of Mohamed Morsi and the FJP signify the triumph of a compromise on…
Morsi haunted by MB despite resignation
BY HEBA HESHAM Cairo: Despite his resignation from the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), President Mohamed Morsi remains haunted by the group. Skeptics claim his authorities as president will be restricted by his “subordination” to them. When he was named Egypt’s new president, Morsi’s electoral campaign announced that he resigned from his position in the Guidance Bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood and as chief of the FJP, a promise he had made as a gesture of goodwill. While Morsi was not obliged to do that, the gesture was necessary to restore trust in…
How Egypt’s Islamists lost the first round
BY RANIA AL MALKY Cairo: Let’s do the math. According to the preliminary results of Egypt’s presidential poll, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) candidate Mohammed Morsi picked up 5,578,760 votes, around 25 percent, followed by Mubarak-era minister and PM Ahmed Shafik with 5,333,84, 24 percent. In a surprise showing, Nasserist Hamdeen Sabahi was next with 4,670,939 votes, 21 percent. Trailing were two former leading candidates, ex-Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh with 3,919,727, 18 percent, and in a distant fifth place, former Arab League secretary general and Mubarak-era Foreign Minister Amr Moussa at 2,391,214, or 11…
