Egypt to pick Islamist or military man as president

[sandyd]

http://news.yahoo.com/brotherhood-mu...061315464.html

[Mayerling]

Originally Posted by sandyd

http://news.yahoo.com/brotherhood-mu...061315464.html

This is going to be a very interesting 2 weeks. Each man is hated by many and are polarizing.

I am for Ahmed Shafik. And it is amazing as to how many religious people are for him as well.

[Kassy]

Not everybody likes him as some torched the election HQ:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18245455

[Catbird]

Officially, it's over.

Makes me wonder if a police and court system that has operated under the "state of emergency" rules for 31 years can function without them.


BBC:

"Egypt's state of emergency is due to expire at midnight on Thursday, after 31 years in force.

It has been in place without interruption since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

The law gave authorities extensive powers including the right to detain people indefinitely without charge, prohibit protests and censor the media.

Campaigners have long argued for it to be lifted, but some fear Egypt will be left in a vacuum without it.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) issued a statement to reassure the country that it will "continue to carry its national responsibility in protecting the country until the transfer of power is over"."

[Kassy]

There will be some sort of transitional fase anyway. There will be people held illegally, protests we have seen enough already.

The change will be slow but much depends on which candidate wins the final round of the election.

[Catbird]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some form of a "state of emergency" imposed again before the election.

[Catbird]

There's quite a crowd building up in Tahir Square of protesters who wanted him to get the death penalty. Others are angry that his sons were acquitted on most of the corruption charges, and were sentenced to time served on the charges that they were convicted of.

Reuters:

"An Egyptian judge convicted former president Hosni Mubarak of complicity in the killings of protesters during the uprising that ended his 30-year rule and sentenced him on Saturday to life in prison.

...The judge also sentenced Mubarak's former interior minister, Habib al-Adli, to life in prison. He sentenced Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal to time already served after convicting them on some corruption charges and acquitting them on others. Six security officials were acquitted."

[Kassy]

I merged a number of threads on recent developments in Egypt.

This is the old thread which runs the beginning of protest in January 2011 to the run up to the elections in May 2012:
http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?t=34447

The first of merged threads is the outcome of the first round of the elections.

The two remaining candidates are Ahmed Shafik who was a minister under Mubarak and has an army background so he is the establishments candidate running against Mohamed Nursi the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The state of emergency has officially been lifted & Catbird i also wouldn't be surprised to see it come back in some form.

Mubarak has been sentenced for life so theoretically Shafik could grant him amnesty.
Another one of his campaign headquarters has been stormed by protesters.

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18313247

People have occupied Tahrir square in protest to the outcome of the Mubarak case. They think he got of to lightly and many police officials on trail have been acquitted.

In Cairo protesters stormed Shafiks campaign HQ.

[Catbird]

Kassy and I are able to see the future! We should invest much money in lottery tickets.

"Emergency law returns to Egypt in new form"

"Egypt's justice minister on Wednesday granted the army the right to arrest civilians, after such powers expired with the lifting of the decades-old state of emergency last month.

Adel Abdel Hamid issued a decision granting army personnel -- including military intelligence and military police -- the right to detain civilians.

The measure will take effect on Thursday and remain in place at least until a new constitution is written.

On Tuesday, parliament elected a commission tasked with drafting the country's new charter but the process could take months.

The army took the job of policing during the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year, when police largely disappeared from the streets following days deadly clashes with protesters.

But their right to arrest civilians ended on May 31 when the controversial state of emergency was lifted.

"The decision fills a legal vacuum, as the army is still on the streets even after the state of emergency was lifted," Adel al-Mursi, the head of military justice, told reporters."

[Catbird]

And now for the rest of the story...

"Egypt parliament to be dissolved after ruling: court official"

"A constitutional court ruling on Thursday means that the whole of the lower house of Egypt's parliament will be dissolved and a new election will have to be held;

...the ruling was binding on all institutions of state, adding that it would be up to the executive to call for the new election..."

NYT:

"Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the Islamist-led Parliament must be immediately dissolved, while also blessing the right of Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister to run for president, escalating a battle for power between the remnants of the toppled order and rising Islamists.

The high court, packed with sympathizers of the ousted president, appears to be engaged in a frontal legal assault on the Muslim Brotherhood...

The ruling — which critics said amounted to a back-door coup — means that whoever emerges as the winner of the runoff scheduled for this weekend will take power without the check of a sitting Parliament and could even exercise some influence over the election of a future Parliament.

...it was not clear how the military council, which has been ruling Egypt since Mr. Mubarak’s downfall in February 2011, would respond. But in anticipation that the court’s ruling could anger citizens, the military authorities reimposed martial law on Wednesday, the eve of the court’s decision.

Shadi Hamid, research director of the Brookings Doha Center, said: “From a democratic perspective, it is the worst possible outcome imaginable. The democratically elected Parliament was the biggest step in Egypt’s transition, and this casts the entire transition into doubt. It is an anti-democratic decision.”

“This is an all-out power grab by the military,” he added. “Egypt witnessed a coup today, I think it is fair to say.” "

[Kassy]

It took just two weeks... ( if the lottery had those odds i'd be filthy rich )

A bit harder to call what happens next. If the old guard try to steal the presidential election there will lots of violence.

[Catbird]

The military has made their move.

CNN:

"Egypt's highest court declared the parliament invalid Thursday, and the country's interim military rulers promptly declared full legislative authority, triggering a new level of chaos and confusion in the country's leadership.

...The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in control of the country since Mubarak's ouster, said that it now has full legislative power and will announce a 100-person assembly that will write the country's new constitution by Friday."

[Catbird]

And in the other election going on today...

"Egypt presidential runoffs enter final day"

"Al Jazeera International producer Evan Hill tweets: If turnout stays as low as lawyers' syndicate said (15%), we might see a president elected with around 3 million votes in a country of nearly 90 million people.

...The Supreme Presidential Elections Commission (SPEC) has announced that the final day of voting in Egypt's presidential elections runoffs will be extended from 8 to 9 pm before polls close. Conspicuously low turn out since this morning is being attributed, in part, to the extremely hot temperatures prevalent throughout the country. SPEC hopes more voters will head to the polls as the sun sets, and temperatures lower."

WaPo:

"Turnout appeared dismal in a sign of just how polarizing and demoralizing the choice between a military strongman and conservative Islamist is for the Arab World’s most populous nation.

The country’s military junta was expected to issue a constitutional decree within hours, according to the state’s Middle East News Agency, which would define the president’s powers. "

[Catbird]

Wait for it... drum roll please...

"Egypt military issues decree giving armed forces sweeping powers "

"Shortly after polls in Egypt’s landmark presidential vote closed Sunday night, Egypt’s military leaders issued a constitutional decree that gave the armed forces vast powers and appeared to give the presidency a subservient role.

The declaration, published in the official state gazette, establishes that the president will have no control over the military’s budget or leadership and will not be authorized to declare war without the consent of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. "

[Mayerling]

Originally Posted by Catbird

Wait for it... drum roll please...

"Egypt military issues decree giving armed forces sweeping powers "

Nothing has changed except that the military has just become more powerful and certainly is not answerable to anyone.

The US needs to withdraw its military support and put that money into improving the infrastructure of the country if they need to put aid money anywhere in egypt.
Reforming the education system would also be a vey good place to start- esp if the MB wins. and if that happens, the sooner the better.
Egypt is entering or should I say maintaing a very xenophobic era I fear.

[Catbird]

Originally Posted by Mayerling

Nothing has changed except that the military has just become more powerful and certainly is not answerable to anyone.

The US needs to withdraw its military support and put that money into improving the infrastructure of the country if they need to put aid money anywhere in egypt.
Reforming the education system would also be a vey good place to start- esp if the MB wins. and if that happens, the sooner the better.
Egypt is entering or should I say maintaing a very xenophobic era I fear.

Good to see you posting Mayerling.

I'm curious if you saw the TV ad that I've been reading about and what people you know thought of it. Given the ad, xenophobia does seem to be the right way to describe the environment.

"Beware foreign spies, Egypt warns, in ridiculous but dangerous ads"

"Egyptian state TV has been forced to remove a pair of public service announcements warning citizens not to divulge information to foreigners, after a backlash against the ads. One features a man, supposedly a non-Egyptian journalist, entering a cafe, his eyes scanning the room. He is a spy.

Approaching three Egyptians for a chat, he listens intently as they reel off apparently secret snippets of information – such as the revelation that Egypt has transportation problems and prices are too high. He sits smiling sweetly as he texts the information back to base from beneath the table.

In a manner reminiscent of old second world war posters, the viewer is informed: "Every word comes with a price. A word can save a nation."

...The announcements were eventually removed by officials who worried that the point of the videos was being missed. It wasn't. The adverts are very clearly the continuation of a state TV narrative that existed before last year's revolution. They were not designed to raise public awareness of the various espionage networks that no doubt do operate out of Cairo – they were a warning against foreigners.

Scores of people – students, journalists, activists, tourists – have been attacked in Egypt over the past 18 months, set upon simply because their foreignness arouses public suspicion among some social subsets. As anyone who has reported from Cairo will attest, there are pockets of genuine animosity towards foreigners in general and foreign journalists in particular.

When we see adverts such as this on state TV, it is easy to pinpoint where this anti-foreign fire is being stoked. The blaming of a nation's problems on foreigners is an easy sell, particularly when anti-foreign rhetoric is trussed up to such an extent that xenophobia is presented as patriotism. It is a tactic still used at the highest level of Egypt's government."

And, in case anyone missed it...

"Islamist Candidate Is Apparent Victor in Egypt as Military Cements Its Powers"

"Egyptian news organizations declared Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood the winner of the country’s first competitive presidential race on Monday just hours after the ruling military council issued an interim constitution granting itself broad power over the future government, all but eliminating the president’s authority in an apparent effort to guard against just such a victory.

The military’s new charter is the latest in a series of swift steps that the generals have taken to tighten their grasp on power... Their charter grants them the power to control the prime minister, lawmaking, the national budget, and declarations of war, without any supervision or oversight.

[Kassy]

I think it's sad Turnout numbers were low for the first free election since whenever.

On TV they interviewed a lady who had been one of the young & liberal minded Tahrir protesters. Some of her friends had died only to see the chosen parliament dissolved & the presidential election ending in a choice between fundamentalists & the old regime.

I wonder if Morsi's victory will be official soon.

[Mayerling]

Originally Posted by Catbird

Good to see you posting Mayerling.

I'm curious if you saw the TV ad that I've been reading about and what people you know thought of it. Given the ad, xenophobia does seem to be the right way to describe the environment.

"Beware foreign spies, Egypt warns, in ridiculous but dangerous ads"




And, in case anyone missed it...

"Islamist Candidate Is Apparent Victor in Egypt as Military Cements Its Powers"

I did not see that ad but others did. It was withdrawn but in all my 2 decades here , have never seen such a thing. Very sad.

Official results not due out until this Thursday. The MB candidate, I can barely bring myself to write his name, had the nerve to announce his victory at 0430 this morning.
I am ashamed to say this, but am hoping that some "unexpected" votes appear between now and Thursday. It wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last but god help us, is needed now. An entrenched religious governing body is harder to get rid of - once sown- than a military state. And it is much more dangerous to individual rights.
A sad downward spiral for this country.

[Dreamweaver]

Military vows to hand over power to MB by end of month.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_1...-end-of-month/

[Kassy]

Originally Posted by Mayerling

Official results not due out until this Thursday. The MB candidate, I can barely bring myself to write his name, had the nerve to announce his victory at 0430 this morning.
I am ashamed to say this, but am hoping that some "unexpected" votes appear between now and Thursday. It wouldn't be the first time and won't be the last but god help us, is needed now. An entrenched religious governing body is harder to get rid of - once sown- than a military state. And it is much more dangerous to individual rights.
A sad downward spiral for this country.

I'm wondering if the those "unexpected" votes will turn up.

Getting Shafiq elected would be a full victory at first but since the army now has the power to write a new constitution, define the role of the president & work the next parliamentary elections maybe they could just let him win it.

[Catbird]

via TwitPic

Tahrir Sq. about 2 hours ago. It may be long night, and a long week, in Cairo.

[Catbird]

AFP via Twitter:
"Egypt's Mubarak 'heart stopped,' treated with a defibrillator in military hospital - @afp"

Other reports say that he has just been, or soon will be, transferred to the hospital. Given the crowds and mood in Tahrir Sq., if he should die tonight, things could get pretty wild.

[Kassy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18510201

[Glenn 50]

Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years until overthrown by a revolution in the "Arab Spring" last year, has been declared clinically dead by his doctors, the state news agency MENA said in a report confirmed by a hospital source.

Mubarak was 84 and had been sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.

[Catbird]

via Twitter:
"Report: Mubarak's lawyer says ousted Egyptian leader is not dead -@washingtonpost"

Reueters has a live stream of Tahrir Sq.