Postby Mister Mistoffelees » Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:28 pm
It's a complicated deal, Chris. The Egyptian electorate clearly was having a bad case of buyer's remorse, and with no constitutional channels to either moderate Morsi's agenda or get rid of him, they turned to the military, which did their work for them. Morsi had run on a platform of freedom and prosperity, then governed with the goal of installing Islamist sharia law in the nation (not unlike certain American politicians tutored by Ralph Reed in the run-on-taxes-legislate-on-abortion tradition), and the military was the only option the opposition had.
Egypt was pretty clearly not ready for the kind of election they had, as much because there was no functioning constitution before the election to limit the power of the new government as because the only truly organized political party at the time was in fact the Muslim Brotherhood. Seeing things like this make the establishment of the US in 1776 all the more remarkable, because the transition to elected representative government is not in any way an easy one. Of course, one must remember that the Americans of 1776 were much more politically mature than the Egyptians of 2013, with functioning governments in all thirteen colonies which could run each state's affairs and send experienced, reasonable people to the Continental Congresses. All of which Egypt lacks...
Egypt needs to start with a secular constitution describing the powers of the government, ensuring basic civil liberties for its citizens, and eschewing any kind of sectarian religious-based government. Time will tell us what they actually get.
I'm not too worried about the military transitioning out of power, if only because they've already done it once and shown they are willing to do so...
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