Well, what did you think was going to happen?:
Islamist reformers seemed to be gaining the upper hand over their secular rivals in Egypt on Monday, after gaining a boost in a referendum on constitutional change.
The Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed for decades by Egypt’s military rulers, took an important stride towards winning political power for the first time after voters overwhelmingly backed its call for a “yes” vote in polls over the weekend.
Some 77 per cent of voters gave their approval to a hastily prepared package of constitutional reforms that will limit the overarching powers of the presidency and pave the way for quick legislative and presidential elections in the autumn.
The youth movements and other secular figures who led hundreds of thousands of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other parts of the country had opposed the vote, saying the reforms were too piecemeal.
More importantly, elections so soon will give the reformers little time to organise. Under the autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak, genuine opposition parties did not exist, meaning the reformers will have to start from scratch.
Although outlawed, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose goals are murky, operated a highly efficient, underground movement.
The referendum was considered one of the cleanest votes held in Egypt and turnout was almost unprecedented, but the Muslim Brotherhood was accused of intimidating voters by telling them it was their “religious duty” to vote “yes”.
‘The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] is one of the wings of Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It is characterised by its deep understanding, accurate comprehension and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and judgement, the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and conversion to Islam.’ Article Two, Muslim Brotherhood CharterWe have repeated a single, consistent mantra since the uprisings in Islamic countries began late last year: Be careful what you wish for.
While it is without doubt an appealing notion that poor and downtrodden people (most Muslims are poor and most Muslim countries are poor) can, empowered by modern communications and media, throw off the shackles of their kleptocratic dictators and march towards the sunlit uplands of peace, prosperity and democracy; it is largely a fantasy.
Forget it. It isn’t going to happen.
One venal, unprincipled dictatorship will, inevitably, be replaced by another. And in the case of Egypt (and as we also pointed out in the case of Tunisia) Islamists are waiting in the wings, enabled by the West’s interventions and the pronouncements of its élites – it’s almost as if our ‘World Government’ is willing this to happen.
The Muslim Brotherhood are almost certain to take Egypt – we wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they did so by the end of the year. And with Hezbollah effectively running things in Lebanon, and tinderbox conditions prevailing the length and breadth of the Middle East and the Maghreb, make no mistake – hard Islamism is resurgent and things are not looking good for Israel – the only peaceful, educated developed democracy in a region rapidly being subsumed by a vicious Seventh Century political and religious doctrine, that despises her and her people with equal vehemence- and threatens the rest of us, too.
