Don Newman: Do Morsi’s recent moves suggest his agenda is to take Egypt toward a democratic future, or back to an authoritarian past?

By: /
23 August, 2012
By: Don Newman
Chairman of Canada 2020, Senior Columnist with ipolitics.ca

I wish I could predict a more democratic future for Egypt. Sadly, I can’t.
Recent moves to sack the military leadership are not part of a plan to reduce the role of the Military in a march to a more democratic future. Instead they are a power play to make sure that the powerful Egyptian military is lead by people loyal to Morsi. And if they forget to be loyal, he’ll fire them too.
Two more points: There is no democratic tradition or history in Egypt and a movement like the Muslim Brotherhood is anti-democratic. And a religious movement like the Brotherhood cannot be open to change at the ballot box. That kind of change would be heresy.

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