Major Concern in Egypt !

[BruceVC]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20458148

 

I am really concerned by this development. The newly elected Egyptian president, Mursi, has passed a decree that makes it impossible for any authority,including the courts, to overturn any decision of his. This gives him more power than any other Egyptian leader, including the dictator Mubarak.

 

I am confused by why he would do this considering the fact Egyptians fought so long to get a semblance of Democracy and vote in there last election. We need to see how this unfolds

[exodiark]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...e-east-20458148

 

I am really concerned by this development. The newly elected Egyptian president, Mursi, has passed a decree that makes it impossible for any authority,including the courts, to overturn any decision of his. This gives him more power than any other Egyptian leader, including the dictator Mubarak.

 

I am confused by why he would do this considering the fact Egyptians fought so long to get a semblance of Democracy and vote in there last election. We need to see how this unfolds

 

And thus, history repeats itself...

 

*Game Over screen*

 

 

Ingenious rise to power I think. All he need to do is suppress the masses so they can't stage a massive riot. It's easier to do now, since they are exhausted after the last uprising (Arab Spring).

 

At the very least, I hope he's a benevolent ruler.

[BruceVC]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...e-east-20458148

 

I am really concerned by this development. The newly elected Egyptian president, Mursi, has passed a decree that makes it impossible for any authority,including the courts, to overturn any decision of his. This gives him more power than any other Egyptian leader, including the dictator Mubarak.

 

I am confused by why he would do this considering the fact Egyptians fought so long to get a semblance of Democracy and vote in there last election. We need to see how this unfolds

 

And thus, history repeats itself...

 

*Game Over screen*

 

 

Ingenious rise to power I think. All he need to do is suppress the masses so they can't stage a massive riot. It's easier to do now, since they are exhausted after the last uprising (Arab Spring).

 

At the very least, I hope he's a benevolent ruler.

 

Well there are major protests in Cairo at the moment, you should be able to watch it on all major News Channels.

[Moose]

"I am the senate!"

[exodiark]

Which I predict wouldn't be as severe as Mubarak protest, those people are exhausted after going through such long conflicts. A simple act of suppression will force them to go home quickly, like pepper spray and rubber bullets.

 

Also, some of them might lose morale after seeing that even if they overthrow this new president again, there's no guarantee his replacement won't do the same. Overthrowing presidents after all, are very hard.

Edited November 23, 2012 by exodiark

[Agelastos]

It's the Iron Law of Oligarchy.

 

The only difference between Egypt and the Western world, is that we have had centuries to master the charade of democracy and turn it into a golden calf, whereas they haven't fully grasped the subtleties of the game yet.

[Meshugger]

Meet the new boss - Same as the old boss

 

[Oerwinde]

While concerning, its not necessarily bad. The decree likely wouldn't survive the new constitution once that is finished and could ensure stability until it is tabled.

 

The concern being with that decree, will the new constitution ever see the light of day?

Edited November 23, 2012 by Oerwinde

[Farbautisonn]

I know a couple of the secular egyptian activists, one of whom has had a regular blog on Jpost... of all places. Things are looking significantly worse on the street than we see images of. Alot of people in the west who saw the "arab spring" as a postive absolute arent really interested in showing and telling how bad it actually is. Its gotten worse for the copts and secular bloggers/opnionators for instance. Some of them have allready left Egypt out of fear, taking families and relatives with them. Others are abandoning their families and hope that the police wont retaliate against family for writing in a tone than the brotherhood approves of.

 

If things go as they would seem to go, Egypt just replaced a secular(ish) dictator for a religious one.

[GuybrushWilco]

"So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause" One dictator falls and another one rises. Although given the more stark religious aspects of this new dictatorship, it may be worse.

Edited November 25, 2012 by GuybrushWilco

[Tigranes]

I wouldn't be so quick to go with the flow. The way in which the judges - appointed by Mubarak, and with a recent record of acting quite ambiguously re. the new constitution and trials over the old guard - have led anti-Mursi protests actively and vocally, and the way the Western media, elites and Egyptian NGOs have got on the wagon, is intriguing to say the least. That kind of 'everyone aboard' narrative is great for decisive action when required - e.g. getting rid of Mubarak - but less so for building a healthy democracy.

 

That said, the new powers Mursi has given himself cannot be argued away - here's hoping they can be dropped without jeopardising the authority of the presidential position unduly.

[BruceVC]

I know a couple of the secular egyptian activists, one of whom has had a regular blog on Jpost... of all places. Things are looking significantly worse on the street than we see images of. Alot of people in the west who saw the "arab spring" as a postive absolute arent really interested in showing and telling how bad it actually is. Its gotten worse for the copts and secular bloggers/opnionators for instance. Some of them have allready left Egypt out of fear, taking families and relatives with them. Others are abandoning their families and hope that the police wont retaliate against family for writing in a tone than the brotherhood approves of.

 

If things go as they would seem to go, Egypt just replaced a secular(ish) dictator for a religious one.

Interesting post as usual, the Arab Spring I think has been misunderstood by some. It isn't and wasn't about various Arabic dictatorships being replaced by Western style Democracies. Its about dictatorships being replaced by new systems of governments that are more inclusive of the people in the respective country. It doesn't mean these new governments will follow a Western form of Democracy or even agree with Western ideology. But we need to accept these changes and monitor the results

[Calax]

Fox is going to have a bloody field day with this.

[BruceVC]

Fox is going to have a bloody field day with this.

 

You said it brother, you said it.

[obyknven]

"So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause" One dictator falls and another one rises. Although given the more stark religious aspects of this new dictatorship, it may be worse.

Westlings expect something different?

[BruceVC]

"So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause" One dictator falls and another one rises. Although given the more stark religious aspects of this new dictatorship, it may be worse.

Westlings expect something different?

 

Yes of course, there is no reason to think that a country cannot transition from a dictatorship to a Democracy. It just takes political will, I live in a country that is proof of that.

[obyknven]

Westlings expect something different?

 

Yes of course, there is no reason to think that a country cannot transition from a dictatorship to a Democracy. It just takes political will, I live in a country that is proof of that.

 

In my opinion, this is unfounded optimism.

http://www.europe-so...hp?article26397

After the near-eradication of the Left parties/movements and workers’ unions that went on for decades, and were either completely ignored or largely under reported by the international media, the only organized political forces in Tunisia and in Egypt were the religious fundamentalists ones. They took over the protest movement.

 

It is interesting to note that, contrary to their lack of proper reporting when the Left forces were under attack, the international media did denounce government’s repression against fundamentalist movements: in that sense, they not only fed the world with a very unbalanced political analysis, but they also promoted Far Right religious movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood exclusively as victims of the state, and not as perpetrators of grave violations of the rights of civilians and notably of women’s rights.

 

As the Muslim Right did previously in other countries such as Iran and Algeria, fundamentalist groups and parties in Egypt and Tunisia manipulated the legitimate discontent that sparked under regimes that did not cater to people’s most basic needs. Certainly, Algeria in the nineties is a very good example of their strategy. We can consider that Algeria was the lab for what is now going on in other countries in the region.

 

The Tunisian and Egyptian regimes were neither more nor less ‘undemocratic’ than the vast majority of governments in the world today – as is confirmed by the magnitude of the movement of the ‘Indignés’ which, for over a year, has been protesting their own rulers’ policies in many countries in Europe and North America. However the argument of lack of democracy what was broadly used to legitimate overthrowing these governments, regardless of whom and what will replace the existing regimes.