What is Egypt like after this long transition? If there was a lesson which can be learned from the Egyptian revolution, it is the lesson constituted in the ability of the powers who did not play a decisive role in the outbreak of the revolution to claim ownership of this revolution. Among these powers is the Muslim Brotherhood who knew how to use the opportunity to enter the revolution at the appropriate time, which was October 28, 2011 in order to reap its benefits. The Brotherhood showed that they have a great ability to organise. They even proved that they are the only organisation in the country to do so in quite an efficient manner. The evidence is that their nominee Mohammed Morsi gained the highest numbers of votes in the first round of the presidential elections. He obtained enough votes to in the second round, against someone who can be considered the nominee of the civil society in Egypt, Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister in the reign of President Hosni Mubarak. It was good that Shafiq waged a scathing attack on the Brotherhood's nominee, warning the Egyptians of the consequences of Morsi being president. Shafiq told the Egyptians who are longing to security, of their responsibility in averting this. Shafiq’s win will guarantee Egypt's entry into a transitional period that which lead to the transformation of the greatest Arab country to a real democratic one, based on a healthy competition between all parties which wield political, economic, and social influences. Egypt needs such competition, not parties that have an agenda based only on the acquisition of power. In any case, there is a major shift in Egypt. A shift in the direction of a final elimination of a system launched six decades ago, which abolished the civil society, and practically helped to parties who knew how to use religion to further their agendas in order to promote for themselves among the popular classes and fill the vacuum left by the absence of the state institutions. But what if Shafiq lost to Morsi? What will be waiting for Egyptians then? Who will be the actual president of the country? Will Morsi be able to disagree with the Brotherhood’s leader or deputy. What is certain is that the a Muslim Brotherhood presidential win will have many implications. For the fist time, there will be an Egyptian administration controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood in the face of a military institution that to a far extent doesn't want to surrender its powers. It is true that the ruling junta has promised to hand over power to a civilian led government soon. However it is also true that it will be difficult for this institution to accept a final return to the barracks and abandon all the privileges it enjoys. It will be difficult, as it considers itself a partner in getting rid of Hosni Mubarak. At the basis of this understanding is the rejection of the military institution to the bequeathing project that Mubarak was preparing for. A result of this understanding is that the military institution put an end to the rule of Hosni Mubarak and the people around him. What is more important, is that the understanding between the two sides has blocked the revolution being highjacked by the Egyptian youths who were raising slogans characterised by idealism in a country, which has suffered under military rule since 1952. The military and the Brotherhood have abducted the revolution. Now the Brotherhood is trying to abduct the military's role in the revolution and monopolise its gains. Is that feasible that this can ans should occur in a country like Egypt, which has not passed the required transitional period? What distinguished Turkey from Egypt is its passing of that transitional period, which has made the military think a hundred times before taking any step in the direction of taking control of even a small part of power. In addition, the reduction of the military influence coincided with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and their success in the achievement of an economic renaissance that gave large appeal to the Islamic party. In Turkey, there are institutions of a modern state reinforced by the transitional period that the country went through during the last 20 years. Without this transitional period, Egypt runs the risk of sliding into the unknown, particularly as the Muslim Brotherhood has no clear political, economic, and social programmes, which is the very opposite to what they claim. It is enough to wonder about tourism, and how they will secure the return of millions of tourists to Egypt? Is their someone among the Brotherhood, who can claim that this organisation has a vision of how to restore the tourism industry, which supports millions of Egyptian families? Of course we will not speak about women’s rights and their role in the Egyptian society, or about how to raise the level of education programmes and the nature of education. However, Egypt is in need of a transitional period that guides it from military rule, instead of the a direct entry a Brotherhood government, who have shown unlimited thirst for power. Power is a matter totally different from the being a guardian to the most populous Arab country. If we want to see one positive thing in Morsi being elected president, is that it would constitute what the Brotherhood want and how they will deal with the problems of Egypt and its relations with the other Arab countries, especially the Gulf states. Will they have something to give Egypt and the region other than slogans, or the internal problems Egypt has experienced since the 50's?
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Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©