Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) declared their candidate Morsy to be the winner of this past weekend's Presidential Election. The margin they claimed was nearly 52% in their candidates favor.
Not so fast...
Rival candidate Shafiq, the former Air Force General who had a brief stint as Mubarak's last Prime Minister during last year's revolution, now claims that it is actually he who has won the election by the same percentages.
Not so fast...
The Presidential Election Commission (PEC), formerly under fire for disqualifying many leading candidates before the first round of elections, now says that the official results will not be known on Thursday as originally planned. At least three officials from important polling stations have been detained for questioning regarding vote tampering. The PEC also has to review many of the claims of foul-play as presented by each candidate and any citizen who has made a report; Morsy's camp has already submitted 125 accusation (the number of Shafiq's complaints are not yet known). There were also many reports of ballots pre-marked and now stories circulating that FJP supporters marked ballots while they were still in the print shops.
A new day with democracy in Egypt?
Not so fast.
You've likely seen images like this one posted on Al Jazeera's website of the hundreds of thousands who marched from various points of the city to Tahrir Square last night. Former presidential candidates and revolutionary groups who could not find consensus before the elections now have found the common ground in wanting to prevent Shafiq's presidency and removing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) from leadership of the country.That, however, may be where the common ground ends--but for now, it's enough to make quite a statement.
There were several reported chants and statements against the military for dissolving Parliament; yet, it was not the decision of the SCAF to dissolve Parliament but the Supreme Constitutional Court.
There were several reported chants and statements against the supplemental amendment subsequently passed and announced by SCAF--many want the full powers of the President to remain and do not want to see any limitations.
Perhaps (as some legal, political and social experts around the world have recently noted) the SCC and the SCAF feel a sense of responsibility for the present & future safety, stability, and well-being of this nation--without a Parliament, without a Constitution, where is the limit to power, the checks-and-balances, and the plurality of opinion that would allow for a democracy to work well? Not only are their serious questions about how much power an elected President without checks-and-balances could wield, the question of how long can that President wield that power is another question that should be addressed by a new Constitution.
So, the SCAF have attempted to insert themselves in as the legislative branch for checks-and-balances until a new Constitution can be formed. This "power play", now coupled with the announcement by Shafiq that he has won the election and the inconvenient delay in announcing the official election results, are not satisfying the fears of a military conspiracy to retain power.
When will the revolution and controversy end in Egypt?
Not so fast.
Pray for Egypt.
Not so fast...
Rival candidate Shafiq, the former Air Force General who had a brief stint as Mubarak's last Prime Minister during last year's revolution, now claims that it is actually he who has won the election by the same percentages.
Not so fast...
The Presidential Election Commission (PEC), formerly under fire for disqualifying many leading candidates before the first round of elections, now says that the official results will not be known on Thursday as originally planned. At least three officials from important polling stations have been detained for questioning regarding vote tampering. The PEC also has to review many of the claims of foul-play as presented by each candidate and any citizen who has made a report; Morsy's camp has already submitted 125 accusation (the number of Shafiq's complaints are not yet known). There were also many reports of ballots pre-marked and now stories circulating that FJP supporters marked ballots while they were still in the print shops.
A new day with democracy in Egypt?
Not so fast.
You've likely seen images like this one posted on Al Jazeera's website of the hundreds of thousands who marched from various points of the city to Tahrir Square last night. Former presidential candidates and revolutionary groups who could not find consensus before the elections now have found the common ground in wanting to prevent Shafiq's presidency and removing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) from leadership of the country.That, however, may be where the common ground ends--but for now, it's enough to make quite a statement.
There were several reported chants and statements against the military for dissolving Parliament; yet, it was not the decision of the SCAF to dissolve Parliament but the Supreme Constitutional Court.
There were several reported chants and statements against the supplemental amendment subsequently passed and announced by SCAF--many want the full powers of the President to remain and do not want to see any limitations.
Perhaps (as some legal, political and social experts around the world have recently noted) the SCC and the SCAF feel a sense of responsibility for the present & future safety, stability, and well-being of this nation--without a Parliament, without a Constitution, where is the limit to power, the checks-and-balances, and the plurality of opinion that would allow for a democracy to work well? Not only are their serious questions about how much power an elected President without checks-and-balances could wield, the question of how long can that President wield that power is another question that should be addressed by a new Constitution.
So, the SCAF have attempted to insert themselves in as the legislative branch for checks-and-balances until a new Constitution can be formed. This "power play", now coupled with the announcement by Shafiq that he has won the election and the inconvenient delay in announcing the official election results, are not satisfying the fears of a military conspiracy to retain power.
When will the revolution and controversy end in Egypt?
Not so fast.
Pray for Egypt.
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