Has the Muslim Brotherhood hijacked Egypt's revolution?
Though it stayed on the sidelines during the protests that ousted Hosni Mubarak, the Islamist group is flexing its muscles now
Egypt's military leaders announced Monday that they would hold parliamentary elections — originally scheduled for June — in September. The delay is being seen as a nod to emerging political groups that had asked for more time to get organized. Nevertheless, well-established Islamist candidates linked to the Muslim Brotherhood are still expected to out-perform their secular counterparts and the Islamist group appears to have become the country's driving political force, replacing the youth activists who started Egypt's revolution. Is the Muslim Brotherhood destined to run Egypt?
Of course the Muslim Brotherhood is taking control: Islamists are taking over Egypt's revolution? "You don't say!" says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. This may "come as quite a shock" to those who insisted that Hosni Mubarak should leave power immediately, instead of sticking around long enough for secular opposition groups to get organized. But many of us warned from the start that "the Muslim Brotherhood would be the only political force organized to take advantage of the aftermath."
"NYT: Surprisingly, the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have seized the Egyptian revolution"
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Give the Egyptian people some credit: "Nobody has a monopoly over public opinion or the revolution," says H.A. Hellyer at Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm. Egyptians know that. That's why they risked everything to overthrow Mubarak's regime, and it's why they will "come out in multitudes again" if Islamists or anyone else tries to impose tyranny on them. "This is the new Egypt — her people should not be underestimated."
But secular Egyptians are scared: Top U.S. officials are still upbeat about Egypt's direction, says Bret Stephens in The Wall Street Journal, but "secular Egyptians themselves" are worried. The secular groups that were at the heart of the anti-Mubarek protests urged people to vote "no" in a March referendum on constitutional changes that would pave the way for swift elections. They lost big, with 77 percent of the public voting "yes." Result: Groups that are already organized — the Muslim Brotherhood and the military's political party — are poised to grab power.
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