"Prefect of the Morals"*

As the date of the presidential elections in Egypt draws near (they are expected to take place by mid-April), hardly anyone in this country seems to have any doubts who the next president will be. On the 27^th of January, SCAF, the governing body of the Egyptian military, promoted General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the military’s Commander in Chief and Defense Minister, to Field Marshal (the highest Egyptian military rank, awarded rarely, and only to those with exceptional achievements for the state). On the same day, he was also granted permission to resign and encouraged to run for president. In an official statement, broadcasted on Egypt's state-run TV, it was announced that SCAF considers it Sisi’s "mandate and an obligation" to fulfill the "popular demands of the Egyptian people," as well as to follow "his sense of patriotism."** The Field Marshal himself, who up-till recently had been fiercely denying that he was even considering participating in the elections, has reportedly changed his mind: "Yes, the matter has been decided and I have no choice but to respond to the call of the Egyptian people […] The call (of the people) has been heard everywhere and I will not reject it. I will seek a renewal of confidence of the people through free voting […]" (via Kuwait's Al-Seyassah newspaper, in an interview, when asked about his plans for running for president)***.

He is still not an official candidate, however, as the army is denying Sisi’s plans of running for president, accusing Al-Seyassah is misquoting the defense minister’s words. Yet, even before the promotion to field marshal, the public was entertained with a story about al-Sisi’s prophetic dreams, or visions, which allegedly “leaked” into the open from an off-record part of an interview Sisi gave for a privately-owned Egyptian newspaper called Al-Masry Al-Youm. In the recording, Sisi relates a series of dreams he had started having 35 years ago (and stopped talking about some 8 years ago). He mentions 3 visions, in which he holds a sword with the words 'No God but Allah' engraved in red letters, wears an Omega watch with a green star on it (green is the color symbolizing Islam), and meets the late president Anwar Al-Sadat who tells him “I know you will be president” and Sisi responds “I know I will be president too.”**** In light of all these “allegedly misquoted” stories, however ridiculous they may seem, it is not a surprise that the average Egyptian today is left feeling unwillingly pulled into a game of cat & mouse with the general (excuse me, field marshal).

The recently held Constitutional referendum proved that the army has wide support in the people. Even despite the popular boycott of the elections*****, according to the official statistics, the voter turnout amounted to 40%, and most of those who participated, voted “YES for the constitution” (during Morsy's constitutional referendum one year ago, the turnout was 33%). After the mass demonstrations of the 30^th of June (according to some sources, even as many as 30 million Egyptians hit the streets in what the Army interpreted as a show of support and a mandate to go ahead with the coup), the results of the last elections provide tangible confirmation that the military rule is still as eligible, as ever.

Despite the wide-spread support for the Army, the spirits in the streets and offices are not high everywhere and the public opinion is deeply divided. Many people are tired, disillusioned and afraid. Many feel offended by the way things have been handled in the last months, not excluding the constitutional referendum. And among those are many who went to the streets on the 30^th of June. Some have lost hope, saying that the Mubarak regime is back in full swing and the Revolution has been cheated. There are also those who still believe in the success of the 25^th January movement, refusing the idea that nothing has changed. Many are thankful to the Military for doing away with the Muslim Brotherhood (who have now been officially declared a terrorist organization and pushed back into the underground they had emerged from after the Mubarak regime was toppled) and clearing the streets off the bearded rioters. But even among those who appreciate the army’s efforts, many boycotted the constitutional elections, labeling them a down-right farce. The Muslim Brotherhood is still calling for justice for Morsy, named the “eligible” and “democratic” president (mind you, he was the only civilian president Egypt ever had, all through its history) but the Nur Party (originally formed to represent the Salafis on the post-Mubarak political scene) is supporting Sisi in hope of being spared when the cards are reshuffled after the new parliamentary elections (planned to take place after the presidential elections).

So, what’s next for Egypt? A friend from Poland asked me recently, whether there exists any solution better than army rule. Well, that would depend of what we would be inclined to understand, as a “better” solution and who’s point of view is being considered. It is not any secret that there is no such thing, as “objective truth” … Many in Egypt today will tell you that the Egyptians are not ready for democracy. Some of the reasons which come to mind, include a lack of education and extreme poverty. Almost nobody in this country reads anything, so how can they develop independent thinking?

No doubt this country has an unprecedented (?) history of army rule, where the only civil president ever elected was ousted in a (democratic) coup … At the same time, I think its high-time the West, or rather west-oriented thought, reconsiders just how this “democracy” is to be applied in the Middle East******* (I know that I am not saying anything new here, and when I say that the fact that Egypt is Muslim, which makes it impossible to ever evolve into a secular state per se – so long, as it remains Muslim, as in Islam, religion and the state are interconnected, I will not be saying anything new either). And what makes us so sure that democracy in the form, in which it evolved in Europe and the United States (mind you, not so very long ago either) is a stencil, which can be directly applied onto any given country, undergoing an identity crisis? How many centuries has it taken the West to get to the point in history where it is now? And how often do we hear nowadays that we are actually witnessing the dusk of the so-called Western Civilization? And, even if it were possible to transfer American-style democracy onto Egypt, what makes us so certain that it is a good solution? That democracy is not perfect, was already considered an obvious truth 67 years ago, when Winston Churchill used it as a punch line in his speech: “Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”.*****

So, to answer my friend’s question: I don’t know. At the moment, the rule of the army has been sanctioned by the voters. If you ask me, whether I consider the Constitutional referendum as legitimate elections, I will have to say “no, I don’t.” Still, the fact remains, that the Egyptian Army lead by General Sisi has been granted a blessing from the international community and feels fully empowered to continue with the execution of their plan (whatever that might be). And rightly so.

In the days preceding the two-day long constitutional referendum in Egypt, every square meter of Alex (I don't know about other cities) was adorned from head to foot with billboards, posters and flyers urging Egyptians to vote 'YES for the constitution.' If you were not voting 'yes' than you were against the army and with the Rabea (Muslim Brotherhood terrorists). There was no campaign to "vote NO" and anyone attempting at pursuing one was immediately arrested. There was no election silence either. On the days of the elections themselves, cars playing patriotic music cruised the streets to encourage the appropriate mood.

*In 46 BC, [Julius] Caesar gave himself the title of "Prefect of the Morals", which was an office that was new only in name, as its powers were identical to those of the censors.^[85] Thus, he could hold censorial powers, while technically not subjecting himself to the same checks that the ordinary censors were subject to, and he used these powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans. He also set the precedent, which his imperial successors followed, of requiring the Senate to bestow various titles and honors upon him. He was, for example, given the title of "Father of the Fatherland" and "imperator" (via Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar

**’El-Sisi run for Egypt's presidency a mandate and an obligation: SCAF. Ahram online: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/92787/Egypt/Politics-/ElSisi-run-for-Egypts-presidency-a-mandate-and-an-.aspx (accessed: 2nd February 2014)

***Quoted after the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah. Now the army is denying any such declarations, saying the newspaper misquoted the field marshal. ‘Egypt says Sisi misquoted on presidential bid.’ Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/egypt-says-sisi-misquoted-presidential-bid-2014269710446671.html (accessed: 2nd February 2014). 

****The full English translation of the “off-the-record” interview can be found here: English Translation of El-Sisi’s Alleged Leak, karmamole.com, http://www.karmamole.com/septic/english-translation-of-el-sisis-new-leak/ (accessed: 2nd February 2014). It is worth mentioning, that because this part of the interview was never included in the official publication, and it was published by a media source affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, many suspect it to be fake. Nonetheless, the damage was done.

*****The elections were boycotted, i.e., by the liberals, the Muslim Brotherhood and most of the middle and upper middle class (i.e. the white collar workers). Interestingly, according to official statistics, most of the voters were women.

****** Speech in the House of Commons (1947-11-11), via Wikipedia.

*******An obvious example of a working democracy in the Middle East is, of course, Israel, but as the country was established “from scratch,” more or less the way the USA was formed, I believe it is a different case. Also, we must consider that Judaism allows for a separation of religion and state (Israel is a secular state), plus the population of Israel is roughly 8 million, while Egypt’s 90 million people.