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Egypt: The Counterrevolution Won – For Now
The parliamentary elections in Egypt gave a large majority to the Muslim Brotherhood the Salafi parties. That scared many of the liberals who had protested at Tahrir square as well as the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Behaving quite unprofessionally the various fractions in the parliament could not agree on a way to set up a constitutional assembly and on procedures on how to write a new constitution. But they agreed on a law banning former Musharaf government members from the presidency.
Then came the presidential elections. The most popular candidates were dismissed by a SCAF election court for this or that fudged reason. Then the first ballot round eliminated some others and left for the second round only the candidate for the Muslim Brotherhood Morsi and the candidate for the SCAF, Mubarak's last prime minister Shafiq.
Yesterday the military reinstated parts of the emergency law that allows arbitrary arrests by the military and state security forces.
Today the constitutional court ruled that the law to ban former government members from the presidential election is illegal. Mubarak clone Shafiq can thereby continue in the run-off and whoever will count the votes will make sure that he wins.
The court also ruled on the legitimacy of the parliament. With a fluffy interpretation of the law it found that a third of the parliament members, those directly elected instead of through party lists, were not legally elected. It dissolved the whole parliament.
Egypt now has no parliament, no constitution, no way to create a new constitution and a joke of a legal system.
Shafik, the SCAF puppet, will win Sunday's run-off vote. Today he already held a well prepared victory speech. Mubarak, currently in jail with a bad case of jail flue will then likely be freed and allowed to live in some luxury comfort where he can continue to pull the strings. Everything will be back to where it was before the Tahrir protest.
Or not. Whenever Islamist parties got cheated out of a democratic victory the troubles only began. The 1991 election in Algeria and the non-acceptance of the result by the military was followed by some great and brutal troubles. Hamas won the Palestinian election in 2006 but was not allowed to rule. After a fight with Fatah Hamas took over Gaza and strife within the Palestinian people continues today.
It is therefore quite likely that the now completed counterrevolution by the military, in the bigger historic view, will only be seens as a phase in a longer and likely more violent process of re-balancing the Egyptian political system.
The Greeks and the Egyptians vote this w-end.
It is possible that which candidate is elected in Egypt may make a difference, somewhere in the future (?) But, in view of the fact that Egypt has been returned to its status quo ante, or some might say, has experienced a soft military coup (well, corporate military, as the military is part of the state, and a big biz. and land owner) or whatever other formulation one likes, these are sham elections.
As for Greece, the EU/banks/others/Greek oligarchs, rich/Germans/the right seem attached to keeping pro-Memorandum pols and parties in power, Syriza being painted with a big red brush, it may not make that much difference either.
Firstly, because the Gvmt. and by extension the pol. parties de facto have little power, they are in a reactive mode, not a creative one. Second, because the Memorandum cannot be applied in full, has not been, and doesn’t solve core problems in any case, it is just crack-pot superficial social engineering, strong-armed, buying time, etc. I blame Merkel, a lot.
An anti-Memorandum platform faces different difficulties, just as dire in a way.
In both cases, the best outcome one can hope for is a special status for Greece, some kind of orderly exit from parts of the EU (legislation / currency) with continuing help, which will be needed, by European and other countries or orgs. I’m not optimistic. The whole Greek story shows up extremely ugly sides of Europe (the EU, but not only) and a very wide cultural gulf, hard to bridge, not that anybody paid it any attention or tried. Syriza’s program shows this clearly.
The program, for us, goes beyond mere slogans and measures, although we know that these are necessary as well. For us program means a set of values, principles, straight-out orientations and diligent positions. Our program is based on the values of solidarity, justice, freedom, equality and environmental responsibility.
more at, eng:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DRA20120612&articleId=31378
Syriza is just as reformist as the ‘Memorandum’, even more stiffly so, and often in the same direction.
Everything must change: the political system, the state, the relation of the citizen with the state and with politics. Consequently, the way out cannot be found in a return to some version of the past.
(…) because important reforms, such as in the tax regime, public administration and the redrawing of the relations of the state with the church, all constitute pending issues from the past, even the distant past. These pending issues of our collective historical life, have become pressing necessities and conditions for survival, and urgent preconditions to avert a catastrophe.
Egypt? Return to the past, or see Algeria, as b mentioned.
Posted by: Noirette | Jun 16 2012 14:43 utc | 31
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