Egypt\u2019s democratic transition, already rocky and uncertain, is now very much under threat.<\/p>\n
A new election timetable\u2014the product of an agreement between the country\u2019s ruling military council and 13 political parties\u2014distorts the \u201ctransition\u201d beyond recognition.<\/p>\n
When the military first came to power in February, it promised to hand power to a civilian government within six months. While unrealistic, the rushed schedule suggested a military eager to return to the barracks. It no longer is. Under the new arrangement, presidential elections would be held no earlier than 2013. In an attempt to reassure skeptics, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the country\u2019s de facto ruler, said that \u201cgiven the chance, the military council will step down tomorrow,\u201d recalling the days when President Hosni Mubarak would express his wish to retire\u2014if he could only find someone with enough experience to be president.<\/p>\n
The military, as I first argued here, cannot be trusted with something as important as Egypt\u2019s fledgling democracy. Even if it had the country\u2019s best interests at heart, the military council is unelected and therefore unaccountable to the very people it claims to serve.<\/p>\n
If it is strictly a question of stability, then the proposed timetable is just as troubling. The extension of military rule will only fuel polarization, provoke more opposition and frighten off investors.<\/p>\n
The current dynamic\u2014military imposes unpopular policies, protesters protest, military makes partial concessions, protesters protest partial concessions, and so on\u2014has proven a recipe for failure, producing a patchwork of ill-conceived laws and half-measures. Often, the military uses the pretext of \u201cstability\u201d to sustain old practices, including emergency law, intimidation of the press, military trials, and even torture.<\/p>\n
What Egyptians need now is a strong signal that their country is moving forward and shedding its autocratic past. That will only come with a successful transfer of power to elected institutions. Considering what\u2019s at stake, the United States\u2014which provides at least one-fifth of Egypt\u2019s defense budget\u2014should pressure the country\u2019s military leaders to recommit themselves to a full and speedy transition. The longer the military stays in power, the longer it will want to stay in power. The last thing Egypt needs is a prolonged and costly crisis of legitimacy. But that\u2019s just what it might get.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-14534","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/14534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opinion"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}