Morsi today … Sadat 1971

We have recalled Anwar Sadat’s experience (the weak President) with the poles of power in 1971 to acknowledge that Dr Mohammed Morsi (another weak President) may not stay the same for a long time. He may surprise us, armed with the electoral legitimacy which is stronger than the revolutionary legitimacy. This is what  exactly happened when Morsi executed a series of changes in the military and security institutions which will make him a president with full powers, powers that are greater than what former president Hosni Mubarak had. Morsi, the substitute candidate in the Egyptian elections, hit a number of birds with one stone: he overthrew the old Field Marshall and a number of his generals; moreover he fired the chief of Egyptian intelligence, General Director of Military Police and the governor of Sinai. He canceled with a stroke of a pen the Supplementary Constitutional Declaration and appointed a judge as his deputy. It seems that the "dual power" in Egypt has been resolved, and the one-head system has replaced the two-head one. Based on these decisions, we can view with satisfaction the steps of the Egyptian President-elect. It is not permissible after the January revolution that the keys of power, authority and decision-making remain in the pockets of Mubarak’s aides and the pillars of his rule. It is time to change the system after more than a year of overthrowing its head. For this very reason, the steps of Morsi were praised among a broad range of political and social parties in Egypt. However, this satisfaction remains fraught with anxiety and anticipation; the Egyptian revolution has not started its glorious launch and did not provide a numbers of martyrs in order to replace one leader with another or a ruling party with another. The revolution broke out in order to lay the foundations of freedom, democracy, pluralism and devolution of power in Egypt. The performance of the Muslim Brotherhood during the revolution and post-revolution has raised many concerns for the rest of Egypt. The people fear the dominance of the movement and its monopoly of power. This is an open question which must be answered before a crisis occurs. The exit of the military from power is good news for all supporters of democratic change in Egypt. It is needed to reconsider the role of "the military" and its functions and management tools comprehensively and deeply. The re-consideration of the combat and armament doctrine of the Egyptian army requires careful and lengthy thinking. The US military help should not be the "final word" in this doctrine, and the harsh terms of the Camp David agreement must not restrict the military's ability to maintain the security of Egypt. Generally, the exit of the army from political and economic life has become an urgent and pressing task. Morsi (and the Muslim Brotherhood) have finally got what they wanted and have full power. Their performance in the coming days will provide an opportunity for all their opponents and supporters to test the seriousness and credibility of the slogans and campaigns which put them in power through the ballot boxes. It will be a valuable opportunity to test the seriousness of the civilian democratic components in its political and intellectual dialogue and their ability to maintain political, intellectual, social and religious pluralism in Egypt ... It will be an evaluation for the Muslim Brotherhood’s belief in respecting others' opinions and freedom of individuals and groups, especially those that do not belong to them and are not included under their referents. So far, the experiment does not look encouraging, starting from the Muslim Brotherhood breaking their promises in not running for the elections and until their former guide’s statement, Mahdi Akef, saying : "Those who do not like the Muslim Brotherhood, go to hell". There's also their desire to control the national media and press. However, the Muslim Brotherhood is still in its first few months of power, as the experience of Hamas in Gaza was subject to extraordinary challenges and conditions. The most important is not to hand over power to their opponents, that was always a justifying  reason for extremism and narrow-mindedness. Now, there is no reason or justification for the suspension of any matter. The ball is now in the court of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is now the beginning of the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Egypt. We are able to judge the experience...the Egyptian voter shall decisively evaluate the experience through the ballot boxes, while we hope they maintain their honesty and integrity in the new era. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.