Egypt Junta ‘Hopes’ for Elections in Six Months
Military Outlines Vague Timetable for Elected Govt
With tensions rising in the wake of the ouster of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak through popular revolt, the military junta that has been installed as an “interim” ruling faction finally laid out the vague details of what it says are a timetable for an elected government.
The military’s council insisted that it “hope to hand over power within six months to a civilian authority,” and also said that despite some early indications to the contrary they don’t seek to continue ruling the nation beyond the interim period.
A number of opposition political activists have warned that they believe the revolution which ousted Mubarak is being hi-jacked by the military, and that their transition period is dangerously long for a group that supposedly doesn’t intend to retain power but still insists on ruling by edict under martial law.
Adding to this concern is that Defense Minister Field Marshal Mohamad Tantawi, the de facto ruler of the nation now, was vehemently opposed to democratic reforms for years, and amongst the strongest defenders of the status quo.
Though much of the opposition was relieved to see Mubarak replaced by anyone other than Omar Suleiman, the lack of transparency about where Egypt is headed, beyond vague proclamations of what they “hope” happens, still has many extremely uneasy.
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a reader
February 16th, 2011 at 3:49 am
After the dust settles in Egypt and Tunisia,if it does,after those Peoples obtain their new constitution,legislature,and a reasonably fair vote,the People will find that they are free from the oppression of arbritrary arrest,imprisonment,and torture by the police and State Security,hopefully.That is a significant freedom.But in the end,the Egyptians and Tunisians are going to be just as poor as they were before.They can vote in their Legislators but they can't vote in wealth.Some folks like to believe that Face Book and Twitter made all of the unrest possible but it was the grinding poverty that brought it all on.Millions upon millions of young people with no future,not enough jobs to go around,no home worth going to,too poor to marry and raise a family,not enough welfare money to raise their standard of living.The pie keeps shrinking and the young population keeps growing all over the third world.Even the wealthy countries of the West can't create enough jobs for their people.These "Revolutions" or riots as the case may be are just the beginning.You can bet on that and they are going to bounce around the world.
ron
February 16th, 2011 at 4:40 am
Obviously, despite what the Western media wants everyone to believe, the revolution is not over…..
Watson
February 16th, 2011 at 9:48 am
If memory serves, I believe there was a requirement in their constitution for elections to be held within sixty (60) days. No wonder they had to toss it.