Egypt’s transition to democracy threatened by generals’ plot to hijack revolution

TEHRAN, April 29 (MNA) -- All Egyptian political groups, except for the Salafist al-Nour party, will be represented by a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Loyalists of the former regime can cast their votes in favor of Hosni Mubarak’s former foreign minister, Amr Moussa. Followers of the Muslim Brotherhood are very hopeful about their only remaining candidate, Mohamed Morsi. The Brotherhood’s main candidate, Kheirat el-Shater, was disqualified by the High Presidential Election Committee in a move that pundits say was politically motivated. The committee also disqualified former spy chief Omar Suleiman, who announced his candidacy at the last minute. According to many political analysts, Suleiman’s decision to run for president and his subsequent disqualification were actually part of a plot hatched by the Western-backed military council to facilitate the disqualification of Muslim Brotherhood strategist Shater and Salafist Hazem Abu Ismail, who both had a good chance of winning the election. The disqualification of Shater, based on his criminal record in the Mubarak era, was and continues to be a controversial decision. Shater’s previous criminal conviction was due to his anti-Mubarak activities and banning him from participating in the election makes it appear that there has been no revolution in Egypt. Over the past few months, officials of the Supreme Military Council have also accused him of money-laundering. However, many of Shater’s business activities were charitable works conducted in the name of the Muslim Brotherhood and this cannot be used as a pretext to weaken the popular Muslim Brotherhood figure. Yet, Shater’s disqualification had a positive impact for the Muslim Brotherhood because it proved that the group does not have a secret relationship with the military council. Holding a sound election is currently the main concern in Egypt. In other words, the situation is ripe for the people and all political parties to participate in the election and play roles in the political future of their country. This can accelerate the electoral process and the handover of power to a civilian government. Otherwise, the generals will take advantage of the situation and hijack the Egyptian revolution. Jafar Qannadbashi is an expert in African politics based in Tehran. (By Jafar Qannadbashi)