Egypt's dissolved parliament: Is the revolution dead?
Egypt's high court has disbanded the first freely elected parliament in 60 years and blessed the presidential ambitions of Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister
Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court, appointed by ousted President Hosni Mubarak, threw Egypt into turmoil on Thursday by effectively ordering the dissolution of the country's first popularly elected parliament in six decades, and striking down a law it passed that barred Mubarak's former prime minister from running in this weekend's presidential runoff election. Egypt's ruling military council (SCAF) said the election, between former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, will go on as planned, though whoever is elected might now have to lead the country without a parliament or a constitution — lawmakers were just starting the process of writing a new, post-Mubarak constitution. Is the bid to disband the Brotherhood-dominated parliament and boost Shafik the death knell for the already-embattled Tahrir Square revolution that swept Egypt and booted Mubarak from power?
The ailing revolution is dead: "Egyptian politics is prone to exaggeration and panic," but Thursday's high court rulings are the rare occasion where the hysteria is warranted, says Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy. After this military-judicial coup, Egypt now has no parliament, no constitution, a judiciary that's "become a bad joke," a discredited military, and no hope of "producing a legitimate, consensus-elected" president this weekend. I think "it's fair to say the experiment in military-led transition has come to its disappointing end."
"That's it for Egypt's so-called transition"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is just another setback on a long path: Certainly, the "stunningly cynical" decision to dissolve parliament casts a pall over "Egypt's endlessly befuddling transition from authoritarian rule," says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. But "it isn't a death knell for Egyptian democracy." In truth, the military state never gave up any real power, and now it's showcasing that, first by restoring martial law and then with these rulings. That's a setback to "an orderly and consensus-based transition to democracy," but the march will continue in fits and starts.
The court is only delaying the inevitable: The high court did just deal "a major blow to the pro-Sharia forces" that have dominated Egyptian politics since post-Mubarak elections started, says Robert Spencer at FrontPage Magazine, but it probably only managed to briefly "stave off the inevitable" Brotherhood-led Islamization of this Western-oriented secular nation. The public seems to want Islamist rule, and unfortunately for the West, and Egypt's Coptic Christians, it's what they'll eventually get.
"Egypt's High Court tries to stave off Sharia"
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Italian senate passes law allowing anti-abortion activists into clinics
Under The Radar Giorgia Meloni scores a political 'victory' but will it make much difference in practice?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine interactive crossword - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine solutions - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published