On Saturday, June 16, when we are to rush to the Press, the situation prevailing in Egypt is volatile, the least to say. On June 16 and 17 the Egyptians are polling votes in the second round of presidential elections. Earlier, in Egyptian expats’ presidential runoff voting, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) candidate Dr. Mohamed Morsi reaped landslide victory with 75% of valid votes, after all polling stations abroad have counted ballots. But a large number of citizens, including FJP and MB members, as well as supporters of Dr. Morsi, are participating in a demonstration in front of the High Court in Cairo, calling on the Supreme Presidential Elections Committee (SPEC) to hand over a copy of electorate database to the presidential candidate.
Efforts were on to defeat the symbol of Hosni Mubarak regime and prime minister in his cabinet, Gen. Ahmed Shafiq, with the use of the law of political isolation. But, as the anti-Islam forces would have it, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) on June 14 issued a decision ruling unconstitutional the disenfranchisement law, which effectively means that General Shafiq stays in the presidential race, and that parliament’s attempt to disqualify him as one of the pillars of the despotic regime did not succeed. To the Islamists, this also means that the only one option left to defeat Shafiq is through the ballot box.
This SSC decision came at a time when two more decisions were taken. One decision rules unconstitutional some articles of parliamentary law, and the other grants low-ranking military intelligence and military police officers and non-commissioned officers powers to arrest and detain civilians. The Muslim Brotherhood and FJP consider these decisions aimed at militarisation of the State. They also foresee some hard and dangerous days, ‘perhaps more dangerous than the last days of Mubarak’s rule’.
The dissolution of elected parliament and army takeover is also reported. A close study of these fast-changing developments in Egypt reveals that this is the reverse of Arab Spring and the situation there is going the Algerian way, at least to some extent. In 1991 the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) of Algeria was on the verge of gaining victory. Before the second round of voting could be held, the army there staged a coup to stop the election. In Egypt there may not be a direct army coup. But there is every effort to retain the pre-Mubarak regime and this is what the Egyptians are not going to tolerate. The developments to take place within the next few days are really very crucial for the future of Egypt.