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| From The World |
This is my
edited translation of Egyptian political analyst and talk show host Imad Adeeb’s column today for the Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat:
Only in Egypt do politicians dispute final results of
the presidential elections.
Only in Egypt are some elections results forged by
bribing staff at the print house officially designated to produce the ballot
papers. Sounds like the script for an American detective suspense movie.
Only in Egypt would you find in ballot boxes more
ballot papers than the number of registered voters at the polling station.
Only in Egypt would one of the two candidates in the
presidential race announce the election’s final results one-third of the way
into the vote count and before the Supreme Presidential Elections Committee
(SPEC) had the chance to examine appeals filed by the two campaigns and to officially
declare the winner.
Only in Egypt would the vote-buying rate reach $250
per gullible would-be voter.
Only in Egypt would an elected president assume
office without knowing his presidential prerogatives in a country lacking a
constitution and a parliament.
Only in Egypt would state institutions change weekly
and dramatically from one Thursday to the next. On the previous Thursday, the
country lacked a president but had a parliament. This Thursday, it has no
parliament and no president. Next week, it will have a president but no
parliament.
Only in Egypt would the regular army, which proved
professional in managing state affairs over the past 20 months, assume the
state’s legislative and executive powers. It then handed legislative powers to
an elected parliament before retaking the legislative powers after disbanding
parliament. Later this month, the army would hand over executive powers to the
president-elect but keep hold of the legislative powers pending the election of
a new parliament.
Only in Egypt would you find one thing and its
opposite. You would find a revolution and a coup d’état, the supremacy of the
law and attempts to flout it, the rule of justice and its travesty, the Arab
world’s most transparent elections and a struggle over its final results.
That’s fascinating and unparalleled, indeed.
