Sunday, February 13, 2011

What future for Egypt in the hands of the army?

The Egyptian army, which has been given the reins of the country after the departure of Hosni Mubarak, Friday, Feb. 11, faces the daunting task of restoring stability to the country while meeting the democratic aspirations of the Egyptians. So far, the military did not set out in detail their projects and Egypt advance into uncharted territory.

What specific role has been entrusted to the army? The Supreme Council of the armed forces is now responsible for "managing the affairs of the country," said Friday the vice-president Omar Suleiman on television, after reporting the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. But the council said Saturday that the day management would remain temporarily in the hands of government, appointed in January by Hosni Mubarak, until a new cabinet is formed.

Friday morning, the army had said it would guarantee elections "free and transparent," and assured that it would end the state of emergency in force for nearly thirty years, when the situation would returned to normal. Saturday, the army has again committed to a "peaceful transition" that "will pave the way to civilian rule elected to build a free democratic state." But no timetable was provided.

The army is popular? With almost 470 000 men, the Egyptian army, is appreciated by the people who often become friends with the band during the demonstrations. "From the beginning [the movement], the army did not intervene to prevent demonstrations, it did not play the role that Mubarak would have probably wanted to play.

She preferred to remain neutral and maintain its position as a referee, "said Mustapha Kamel el-Sayyed, a professor of political science at Cairo University. "The army is seen as a guarantor, as a mediator between a power absent and the revolt of the street," argues Amr al-Chobaki, institute Al-Ahram Political and Strategic Studies.

Groups defending human rights, however, accuse the army of protesters have held anti-regime, some of whom were tortured. "Senior officers and military police arbitrarily detained at least 119 people since the army was deployed in Egyptian cities on the night of Jan. 28, says Human Rights Watch.

In at least five cases, [the military] were tortured. " Can it be the change? There is uncertainty about how the military institution, a follower of the cult of secrecy, it will take to run the country. For now, it was expressed by only four brief news read on state television. The Supreme Council of the armed forces, General College, met only sporadically, in times of crisis.

According to U.S. research center Stratfor, he has just completed its third session after those held during the wars of 1967 and 1973. The head of the Military Council is also a pillar of the old regime: Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, 75, is described by his detractors of "poodle" of Mubarak.

The future of Omar Suleiman is itself uncertain. The former head of intelligence, aged 74, is challenged by the protesters, because of its support for Hosni Mubarak. The army did not say by what process it had concrete reform a system which is the backbone. Since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952, the army gave all Egypt's presidents.

Middle East expert at the Center for American Progress in Washington and near the White House, Brian Katulis said that the fall of Mubarak marks only the beginning of the transition process: "Officially today, if not done in the street, those who run Egypt since 1952 are still the same, from the same part of the military elite.

" What signals the Egyptian population is she waiting? By entrusting the management of current affairs in the Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, who was appointed January 31, the army has disappointed some expectations of Egyptian demonstrators, who had hoped the dismissal of the government formed in haste by Hosni Mubarak.

Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University, hoped that the Higher Council of the armed forces replaced government by a firm "which represents the people, opposition forces and the forces that triggered the revolution," said . Other analysts were hoping for a dissolution of Parliament after November parliamentary elections, seen as fraudulent, but for now, the army does not seem to take this path.

And those expected by the international community? President Barack Obama called Friday "the lifting of emergency rule, a revision of the Constitution and other laws to ensure the irreversibility of this change, and defining a clear path towards free and fair elections. " Vice-President Joe Biden warned that the days ahead would be "delicate and serious consequences." The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for "the early establishment of civilian rule," while the head of European diplomacy Ashton welcomed the establishment of a government "largely representative.

" What other challenges must meet the army? Whatever the future government will face significant social and economic challenges in a country ossified by thirty years of authoritarian and corrupt. The Egyptian economy has also been severely affected by eighteen days of crisis, the desertion of tourists, closing its stock market and by the reluctance of foreign investors.

The army will also clarify its attitude to the Muslim Brotherhood, nemesis of the former regime, with whom the power of dying, however, Mubarak had pledged a tentative dialogue.

No comments:

Post a Comment