| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| EgyptÂ’s Generals May Maintain Large Role In Governance |
| 2011-07-18 |
| The generals running Egypt ahead of fresh elections have begun to signal that they hope to maintain a key role as guarantors of secular rule after handing over power to a new head of state. In a recent interview and in public statements, the generals have left no doubt that they see Islamist parties as a threat. Although they have promised to surrender power once a new president is elected, the generals have suggested that the current Supreme Council of the Armed Forces operate in the future as a check on Egyptian governments not deemed sufficiently secular. One member of the council, Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, recently recommended that under a new Egyptian constitution, the military be granted special status to keep it from being subordinate to the president, according to the independent Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm. Such an approach could put Egypt on a path toward resembling Turkey, whose democracy has been unsettled by tensions between a powerful, secular-minded military and politicians who reflect Islamist popular sentiment. An interview with another general, a top adviser to the Supreme Council, offered a further glimpse into thinking within that body, which wields enormous clout but has operated mostly behind the scenes since assuming power in February after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The general, who does public outreach and advises the council on strategic planning, would speak only on the condition of anonymity. “We want a model like Turkey, but we won’t force it,” he said. “Egypt as a country needs this to protect our democracy from the Islamists. We know this group doesn’t think democratically.” Suspicions persist The notion that the military could emerge as a guarantor of a secular state runs counter to a theory among secularists and leftists that the Supreme Council is allied with the organized and well-financed Muslim Brotherhood, which is expected to make a strong showing in parliamentary elections scheduled for the fall. Some leftists and human rights activists have been suspicious of the military leadership and worried that the military wields too much control over the future of the state. “This type of involvement is a double-edged sword, as it injects the military into the realm of governance and potentially interferes with the prerogatives of civilian governance, even if it ensures the viability of a civil state,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egypt expert at the Century Foundation. He added that the military leadership is probably divided over what type of future role it wants to play in Egyptian politics. |
| Posted by:Sherry |