Unchecked blunders by the Muslim Brotherhood
could crown Ahmed Shafiq as Egypt’s head of state, according to Egyptian media
star and talk show host Imad Adeeb.
 |
| Ahmed Shafiq |
Shafiq, ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s last prime
minister, faces Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi, the other finalist in
the June 16-17 presidential runoff vote.
Adeeb, writing
today for the leading Saudi daily Asharq
Alawsat, says, “Should Ahmed Shafiq win the presidential race, it would be
a consequence of the other side’s faults.”
His argument:
Two days ago, persons unknown attacked Shafiq’s campaign
HQ in the Dokki area of Giza, where they tore campaign flyers and leaflets and
smashed computers. The attack spurred a public outcry, chiefly among Shafiq’s followers.
Egyptian citizens are yearning for stability based on
law and order and better living conditions. Far from slogans, electoral
platforms and electioneering rhetoric, most Egyptians long for a strong, willing
and able head of state to run a country in turmoil.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s blunders since mismanaging
the January 23 opening session of the People’s Assembly “probably explain the
general public’s loss of faith in its ability, and the ability of its key
figures, to run the affairs of state.”
Nothing else explains “why the Muslim Brotherhood
garnered 10 million votes in the parliamentary elections and not more than 5.7
million ballots for Mursi four months later in the first round of the
presidential polls.”
This confirms “a loss of faith in the Muslim
Brotherhood and its political arm, the Justice and Freedom Party.”
The more the Muslim Brotherhood resorts to parliament
and its partisans to shut out Gen. Shafiq, the stronger his political backing.
Seeking to “exclude or isolate” competitors provokes Egyptian voters. “Fear of
the Muslim Brotherhood becoming heavy-handed” amplifies their defiance and obstinacy.
The only hope for the Muslim Brotherhood winning the
presidency is an ultra-quick shift “from exclusion tactics to fair play.”
Tariq
Alhomayed, Asharq Alawsat’s
editor-in-chief, tells Egyptian voters their choice in about a fortnight is not
so much between Mursi and Shafiq as between a religious or civil state.
His line of reasoning:
The Muslim Brotherhood’s “General Guide” -- or
supreme leader Mohamed
Badie – chose Mursi to run as an “alternate” candidate after the electoral
vetting commission barred the group’s charismatic strongman Khairat el-Shater
from standing. A Mursi victory would be a case of the Brotherhood supreme
leader ruling Egypt “from behind the hijab.”
In a way, Egypt under Mursi would be following in the footsteps
of:
-- Iran, where the president of the republic is subordinate to Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei
-- Hamas, whose elected head is Ismail Haniyeh and actual leader
is Khaled Meshaal, and
-- Iraq, where elections are held from time to time but the
final word invariably stays with Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
