Today, many across Egypt’s blogosphere are writing posts aimed at “exposing” the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, the executive body heading the post-revolutionary transition. The impetus for this virtual mobilization is the SCAF’s recent heavy handedness in response to protests across Egypt along with the absurd media blackout it instituted on several acts of violence involving army personnel. More generally, today is a precursor to the so-called “2nd revolution” scheduled for Friday, May 27 in which protesters will call for, among other things, the SCAF to be replaced in it’s role by a presidential council.
A costly gambit
On it’s face, the gripes of Egyptian bloggers and revolutionaries seem reasonable; a military junta – let alone one with such an Orwellian title – is not what the #Jan25 revolution was fought for. Yet interim military rule is what we got and, more importantly, it’s what the majority of Egyptians voted for. The March 19 referendum, which passed with an overwhelming 77% of the population voting “YES”, effectively solidified the SCAF’s executive role and, crucially, designated a time frame for handing over these appointed powers. Therefore, installing a presidential council that would go on to oversee a new constitution and postpone parliamentary elections (the main sticking points for those who voted “NO” in the referendum) would essentially undercut the result of the first free and fair vote in Egypt’s history (a pretty long history at that).
Some bloggers/protesters justify their stance by insisting that democracy is more than voting – it’s civil rights, transparency and rule of law. Quite right – but tell that to the Egyptian people who’s first taste of tangible democracy you want to revoke. Even better, tell them that you’re revoking it in the name of democracy – that you’re doing it for their own good – and see how trusting they are of your “liberal” vision.
Pot, meet kettle
Irony doesn’t begin to describe it. The same people who rose up against authoritarianism are promoting a kind of democracy in which a fussy few impose their will on the many. They are, in this way, not far from the Birthers in America who are irrationally concerned with overturning a democratic result they see as illegitimate, despite all evidence to the contrary. I say Birthers and not, for example, the Tea Party because at least the later managed to organize, form a platform and get elected. As entirely counter-intuitive as it sounds, Egypt’s disgruntled revolutionaries can actually learn something from the Tea Party.
In addition to annulling a prior vote, many protesters would love to see provisions put in place to regulate future votes in accordance with their worldview. Specifically, the influence that the Muslim Brotherhood are likely to have in upcoming elections doesn’t sit well with these self-appointed guardians of Egypt’s democracy. Instead of taking on Baba Hosni’s tactic of protecting the ignorant masses from themselves, however, it seems more prudent to try and convince them of the revolution’s aims. Who knows, maybe you can even salvage the little credibility revolutionaries still have with the public.
Confounding ineptitude & ambition
All this isn’t to say that there aren’t legitimate grievances to be had with the SCAF; they’ve had more than their share of missteps. Moreover, they are a military dictatorship, after all, so it behooves all in Egypt to remain vigilant and skeptical. While not giving the army a free pass, however, it’s crucial that we EQ our expectations a bit. A few reminders:
- As military dictatorships go, this is probably the best situation one can reasonably expect given that Egypt has a conscript army and that the leaders of the armed forces have given every indication that they want to handover power as fast as possible.
- The way the army deals with problems is not akin to the way things are done in the civilian world. Imagine if El Baradei was suddenly given the responsibilities of a Five Star General and you get an idea of the position the armed forces are in.
- To expect accountability is fair, to expect it to be real-time is not. So long as there is no evidence of a cover-up or other such serious breaches, time is a privilege we should be willing to grant.
So, to sum up, I find those who offer full throated defenses of the SCAF and those who exaggerate the Council’s faults equally misguided. I’m all for #noSCAF, but in due time. So long as there is no evidence – beyond conjecture, rumor and conspiracy theory – that they intend to extend their reign against the will of the Egyptian people, I’ll grant them some finite rope. The moment there’s any indication of an ulterior, nefarious scheme, then – and only then – the time for “cooler heads” will have passed.
[...] I wrote about in the previous post, one of the primary reasons that the protests were originally demanded was to insist on the [...]