USA Africa Dialogue Series - EGYPT: day 2 after the coup

Nigeria reacts to coup in Egypt

The Sudan reacts to coup in Egypt

Egypt is a very important country in Africa, certainly has Africa's biggest, most well equipped and most effective army. When I listened to el-Sisi reading out his military decree I was oddly reminded of earlier military decrees, live broadcasts that I have listened to over the radio about coup d'états in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria. El Sisi's had the semblance of a dignified ceremony on al-Jazeera TV him standing to read out  his decree, the rest of them sitting down obediently, the only guy who seemed to be missing in the lineup of some of the scum bags was the Archbishop of Canterbury also saying, "We is with you!"

This morning's Svenska Dagbladet devotes most pages to the power shift in Egypt, all of seven whole pages.

What does this mean for democracy in Egypt?

Ivar Apri's editorial: A setback for democracy

Ivar Apri opinion: Egypt - a divided country

Egypt's path forward bordered by steep

New protests against the military

Unfortunately, for people who all their lives have been outside the pale known as democracy, after their first democratically held election (not just Supreme Leader selection) with the  "winner takes all" mentality, the winner – as in the case of Morsi – inevitably will have the logical tendency of not wanting to appoint any members of the enemy or opposition party into positions of authority in his own administration for fear that would only try to sabotage the Brotherhood's government. And thus an early end to any unsound notions of a national unity government. That's the problem. The opposition wants to share power after losing an election, wants a sizeable piece of the cake and the action. It's no easy task, suffering the loss of privileges that usually goes with no longer being in power in Egypt and having to wait - hopefully - until the next elections and having to watch the guys in power actually, gradually consolidating their power – and thus to have to watch with diminishing hope of ever winning the next elections which are already so very, very far away.

There's little doubt that some of the monsters of the old rearguard regime are behind this latest putsch in Egypt. This is not a matter of hieroglyphics : The Egyptian military did not oust Mubarak another army tyrant who though dressed up in civilian clothes was not democratically elected  - looked like a Pharaoh and reigned as a Pharaoh with an iron fist for THIRTY long years with not an atom of pity for those who did not think like him or those who would not embrace him as the new Ozymandias .

Of course the Israeli army having defeated the Egyptian military again and again – last time in 1973 - Pharaoh Mubarak did not at any time want to adventure his behind sitting on the throne forever and so always had a conciliatory tone towards Israel - of course backed by massive foreign aid from his main boss, the U S of A (dollar & military aid Akbar

But the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency

The main question now is: WHERE IS THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF EGYPT, MOHAMED MORSI?

Where is Mohammed Badie ?

Where is Khairat el Shatar ?

More political prisoners: We know that a warrant for their arrest and the arrest of THREE HUNDRED other top Muslim Brotherhood members has been issued. Have they been arrested? Are they being tortured?

Before the military took over, some anti-Morsi and anti- Brotherhood demonstrators burned down the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo and killed about sixteen Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Who instigated them to do so and what have the military and police done to bring these murders and arsonists to justice? These are the kind of questions a concerned free people and free press would ask and demand answers from the reigning military authorities.

It's difficult to swallow this analysis: In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood Recovers After Morsi's Ouster . How can such a recovery be so immediate when the top members of the Brotherhood are now probably all under lock and key?

Egypt prepares for backlash as Morsi allies reject new regime

What happened to the Arab Spring? One answer is that there's

"No end to the Arab Spring"

Perhos as in

" But thy eternal summer shall not fade"

And how we wish that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we could make such a comparison or description of a democratic, peaceful Egypt and her people enjoying the eternity of a summer's day

When the formatting in my We Sweden blog is fixed, so that I can post links more easily there, as I used to do before, you should be hearing from me more succinctly.

Sincerely,

 http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/

 

 

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