Once touted as “liberals” and “reformists,” the secular backers of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution didn’t take kindly to being trounced repeatedly in elections through 2012 and 2013. With the coup earlier this month, they have done a remarkable 180 in their stance on political independence from military rule.
It’s not even that so-called “liberal” factions like that of Mohamed ElBaradei are relieved at the ouster of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a party that has had their number in elections. They’re now outspoken advocates of military rule, slamming any and all critics of the new junta.
The spokesmen of these parties are condemning the elected government, now ousted, as “treasonous” for daring to oppose the coup, and demanding harsh action against “filthy” protest leaders who are complaining about last week’s military massacre of their supporters.
But what’s the future in this new stance? Analysts are warning that Islamist nationalist factions that dominated the elections are being brushed aside by the rise of an array of secular nationalists backing that military. But beyond getting a handful of powerless “interim” positions to rubber-stamp the new junta’s decisions, it isn’t clear how this is a big step up for Egypt’s “liberals,” and in many ways it’s a big step back in credibility if Egypt ever has free elections again.
Anybody surprised? The answer is, no elections needed. And I would not be shocked if the coup leaders do not present this as a Saudi model, were there are no elections. Now, nearly half of the population of Egypt has been sucked into Saudi Wahhabi-sponsored Salafizm, they will buy this. So, if Salafists can have their way — what they wanted from Moslem Brotherhood — Sharia under authority of Mecca, not Egyptian Al-Azhar, they will NOT CARE IF THERE ARE EVER ANY ELECTIONS. Will then these be the willing foot soldiers of the future wars against other "non-beleivers", like Sufis, Hanafis and other strains of Sunni Islam? Will they succeed at "reengineering' Egypt, Turkey is next. They already fructured Iraq, and are trying to fructure Syria and Lebanon. Great Planners of the Resonstruction of Islam in their Hubris plant the seeds of their own Nemesis.
I am one of the rare Egyptians who are against the coup (actually, most refuse to call it a coup) without being an Islamist. And It is much more complicated than you seem to think.
The revolution hasn't stopped since 2011 (like all revolutions in history, it takes time!) and people are regularly in the street to demand changes. One of these changes was the departure of this president. Don't tell me he was elected! Elections mean nothing during revolutions.
But what about the coup? In my opinion, the military coup wasn't against the president and the government, but against the revolution. They had to stop the people who were mutiplying their demands to an extent the army wouldn't accept. And it worked: now they can form a government with figures from both the two old regimes, Morsy's and Mubarak's.
Thank you for oversimplifying!
The one thing that is never mentioned because the people in power are deathly afraid of it and will do anything to keep it from happening, would be a form of democracy that is not farcical in its limitations and impotence.