Egypt and revolution

So, the Egyptians had a revolution. The people went out to protest against the dictator and when the army decided to act ambivalent, the dictator had to go. Kind of significant they couldn't quite manage it without the army.

Then they had a parliamentary election. The Muslim Brotherhood came out on top. At least they did better than anyone else.

The military were not happy.

Then there was this presidential election. And the Muslim Brotherhood won.

So the army disolved parliament. Because it wan't the sort of parliament they liked. the supreme court validated this. Funny. The supreme court didn't do very much when faced with a dictatorship. The minute democracy takes over and the supreme court starts disolving parliament. Obviously, the people must have made a mistake and voted for the wrong party.

Anyone would think it was like Britain where the army, the judges, the politicans are all part of a ruling elite who go to the same schools and don't mix with the great unwashed, like me.

Now, I am no islamist. I am pretty sure, like many Egyptians, that I would not have enjoyed voting either for the Mubarak man (Shafiq) or the Brothers (Mursi). That is not the point. The game had rules and Mursi won. He is the legitimate president. Egypt needs a new constitution, and he is the man with the authority to preside over that process. Checks and balances are mainly provided by a democratic parliament.

Courts and judges who bowed before that convicted crimal, laughing cow lookalike Mubarak lack legitimacy.

The Muslim Brotherhood is routinely described as the oldest islamist party in the world. They are definitely motivated by religion. I am not sure I find them any more frightening than the tea party. They have a right to pursue their agenda. They are not as corrupt as the average middle eastern politician. It is very difficult to know how far they are down the line of religious extremism. But anyone who believes in democracy must surely back their right to form the Egyptian government, and preside over the writing of the constiution.

Likewise, andone who believes in democracy must want the Egyptian military to get out of the way.

When I was a young lad, my Dad was an avid watcher of the news. I remember the previous Egyptian leader, President Sadat. Sadat was a brave man, Like Nasser before him. Love or loathe him, Sadat took a great risk in siging the Camp David peace accords with Israel. He paid for it with his life. I remember the day he was shot.

An enduring memory, my first memory of Mubarak, is how he ran like a coward from the scene.

I remember Mubarak being sworn in. His fear was palpable. He literally dripped with sweat.

Egypt needs a leader that can stand up to its military. Nasser, a military man himself, could control the military, Sadat could. From his first day when they smuggled him away, Mubarak was more s servant of the miltary than the other way around.

Egypt's revolution is nowhere near finished. The people who lament its failure should remember that European democracy took decades, even generations to build. American Democracy was part of that process. It did not appear over night.

They may be more blood shed. There may be more hours of darkness, more setbacks. But the Egyptians have proven they CAN unseat a leader, ballot box or no. If they elect leaders strong and distant enough from the military their path will be much easier.