Egyptian Presidential Elections: A Prediction

A BRIEF COMMENT
BY TONY SAYEGH

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I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction on the eve of the Egyptian presidential elections.

After connecting the dots for a while it became abundantly clear that SCAF was still in full control in Egypt and was playing a very smart game.

Also, taking the sum total of the actions and inaction of the Muslim Brothers, it became equally clear that they are opportunists, politically gullible and should not be trusted.

The decisions of the Egyptian "Constitutional" Court yesterday was a checkmate move by SCAF and was meant to ensure only one thing: the "election" of a new Pharaoh, Ahmed Shafiq.

Other decisions by SCAF, including that it will be in charge of writing a new "constitution" and its re imposition of the emergency law under a different name, giving the military the power to arrest protesters, are steps to tighten the grip on power and to prepare for the next phase of the revolution.

A new "elected" Pharaoh is much more dangerous than the old Pharaoh because he will have been "legitimately elected," unlike the old Pharaoh.

The right thing to do would have been for the Muslim Brothers to boycott the elections in the next two days and to protest this coup by SCAF. That would have left Shafiq exposed and would have shown the elections to be a sham, just like those under the old Pharaoh.

But, true to form, the Brothers miscalculated again and put their narrow and selfish interests above all else, and decided to play ball. Just as the Brothers miscalculated in all of their previous moves, and as a result lost about half of their support, this move could prove fatal for this movement.

Make no mistake about it, SCAF and Shafiq are not taking any chances and they know the results of this coming round of "elections" in advance. He is already speaking as if he is the president. One way or another Shafiq will be "elected." The Muslim Brothers are being used as a stage prop to give the appearance of legality and legitimacy to this unfolding fraud.

SCAF has prepared the ground work and the troops will use full force to suppress the expected massive protests against the new Pharaoh.

The Muslim Brothers should never be forgiven for their dishonest betrayal of the revolution and for making this possible.

I can already read the headlines after the declaration of a Shafiq win. The Brothers will declare that they are ready to work with the new Pharaoh, since he was "fairly" elected. They have made similar declarations before welcoming the old Pharaoh and pledging to work with him.