Does the military coup in Egypt spell doom for the country's democracy?
Now, it is a great thing that the lunatic extremist Mursi is gone, however, the modus operandi by which this was accomplished establishes a troubling precedent.
If it becomes a regular occurence, that an opposition can just employ the military to get rid of an elected government that they disagree with, then this makes an actual and stable democracy operated by civil debate, discussion, and democratic vote impossible.
Will Egypt realise, that this is the first step on the path to destruction, or will the fact, that through this coup they got rid of a likely islamist dictator, delude the Egyptians into thinking that military action is a legitimate option to run a country?
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Well, I would argue that there was never really a democracy in Egypt. Whoever rules there does at the permission of the military.
Like @Rarebear, I never thought that Egypt had got into a democratic state, and certainly won’t if the military rule the country.
It seems that the military will rule exactly as they like, perhaps with weasel words thrown in to allay fears. Ha! It will be a very shaky state of affairs and nothing has been gained over the past year.
They do not have a US Supreme Court, so I guess they have to do what they can to get what they want.
I hope not. I want to believe that this was just a step towards a better constitution and a real democracy :/
We in America haven’t been able to get “democracy” fully right in pver 200 years. How can we expect Egypt (or any Middle Eastern country) to do it in one year… or probably ever?
Morsi won because the Islamic Brotherhood, long persecuted and outlawed, had spent 80 years quietly organizing while the true forces of democracy in Egypt were fragmented. Still, he only won 51% of the vote and many who voted for him put their hopes in his campaign promises to build a competent, inclusive government that respected the rights of all. But he did not do that. The moment he took power, he jammed through Sharia law and a Sharia constitution. His government was inept at best and corruption ridden would be a more honest word for it. Economic conditions rapidly deteriorated. I would say if real, inclusive democracy has any chance of taking hold in Egypt, this coup is its best shot short of an all-out civil war and decades as a failed state.
Nobody speaks of it, but of late there seems to be a movement toward religious moderation in the Middle East. In addition to Egypt, there have been protests in Turkey and the election of a moderate president in Iran. Overall, I take these to be good signs.
@LostInParadise I hope you are right. The Massachusetts Bay Colony eventually learned that theocracy is one of the worst forms of government ever tried by man. We’ve swung from one of the most religious-right places in the new world to one of the most liberal, secular havens here now.
No, on the contrary. The Egyptian military did the right thing. Mursi was democratically elected, but then he started to dismantle democracy. Separation of powers is fundamental to a democracy and he didn’t respect that. With that he lost his legitimacy. Democracy is about checks and balances.
If the German military had arrested Hitler in April 1933 for dismantling democracy, dozens of millions of people would not have lost their lives.
@mattbrowne That is a very profound answer indeed.
I just hope that the military do actually remember why they had the coup, and nurse democracy properly.
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