Egypt’s Upcoming Elections

By Michael J. Troy
Contributing Writer

If you read about the upcoming elections in Egypt in the American media, you might expect to see frantic propaganda by political rivals on the streets and all over the television, especially with the parliamentary elections just three weeks away. The U.S.-dreaded Muslim Brotherhood should be shouting their rhetoric from every minaret along with the omnipresent “call to prayer” blasting from the loudspeakers. Maybe next week that scene will be played out.

I have read there are about 50 political parties, but not all are certified yet. Approximately the same number were just involved in the Tunisia elections and even after the election, some of the parties had their elected seats removed due to improper certification of the party. A lot goes into this process, including regulated financial contributions and lots of background checking that takes a lot of time. One would think it could be accomplished before the campaigning starts and that would lessen the controversy and disputes after the election. Apparently, controversy is what it is all about. They seem to thrive on that in all the Arabic countries. Other than that, political choices seem to be a matter of conservative or moderate, and mostly Islamic. The important thing for Egypt is that the elections take place at all. If they do, and a Parliament is seated, they should quickly form a constitution that will effectively take control of the country out of the hands of the military. All of this is good except for the big “If.” The military could decide to hold onto the ruling; the country Egypt is ready to break out of its “third world” status, and deservedly so. Any political party free of the past corruption will greatly improve the country. Any fears of the Muslim Brotherhood are really not justified here.

The Salafists (ultra conservative Islamists) have apparently fallen out of favor with the MB, which was their biggest power base. They would have been the biggest threat to the welfare of the country. Even with high unemployment and rising inflation, the people seem to be happy. They enjoy their free time and wedding parties. A conservative government that wanted to ban music, dancing, and any form of alcohol, would be asking for another revolution. It appears the MB is fairly tolerant of other people’s freedoms. Would that change with power? Remember that Mubarek was afraid of them and designated them as terrorists. He did so because they were a major threat to his economic control over the country. The U.S. backed Mubarek, which legitimized his lust for money and power brokering.

The U.S. fear of the MB is not justified, and is Islamophobia at the highest level. If the U.S. and all of the political advisers would let the situation go, Egypt will do just fine. If the Military refuses to relinquish control, the people will handle it. They did it before and they can do it again. The U.S. just needs to verbally back the people. I was here when the Revolution happened and the biggest disappointment to the people, demonstrators or not, was Secretary Clinton’s first statement, the official U.S. position,; the former ambassador’s statement,; then President Obama’s first statement,; where they all wanted to work with Mubarek to bring about social change. The U.S. was, obviously, hedging its backing of the regime, just in case Mubarek pulled it off, and that really made the people mad. When President Obama finally gave the statement to Mubarek to step down, the words raced throughout the entire country and inspired the masses. It was reminiscent of Regan’s “Mr. Gorbachev,; tear down this wall!” All was forgiven and Obama was once again Egypt’s favorite person.

The point of all this is to just let go and the people here will decide what they need. It is already a given that the Muslim Brotherhood will garner 50% or more of the vote that will give them about 40% of the parliament. Whatever it is will be good for the people of Egypt. The Coptic Christians and the Muslims will always have their skirmishes but the Coptics will survive just fine. The Coptics are the oldest Christian religion in Egypt, with the Land of Goshen (Alexandria delta), and Joseph and Mary’s escape route from Herod, and St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai. For the most part, the religions get along unless a local family dispute pops up. When the Army killed a bunch of Coptic protesters last month, it was a wake up call for the Muslims as well. If the powers could crush one protest, they could crush all. And that is the biggest fear of the next election process.

So, after all of this I am waiting for the mudslinging to start. It has to happen, doesn’t it? If someone wants to rip down a political poster, I happen know where some are; I just cannot tell which party they are because they are all in Arabic!

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