The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies having pushed through a draft Constitution which, according to the opposition, tramples the rights of non-Islamists, and fails to protect civil liberties and women, left the opposition in a bind.
The drafting of a new Constitution relied on good faith by those with the power over the legislative process to avoid the Constitution being a seizure of permanent power, good faith which was completely missing.
Boycott the election and by definition the opposition loses, hanging on to the claim of illegitimacy; participate, and give the Constitution further legitimacy if they lose.
The opposition decided to try to win the election and vote down the Constitution. Let’s hope they are successful, but based on the parliamentary elections, it seems doubtful.
Opponents of Egypt’s Morsi-backed charter urge ‘no’ vote instead of boycott:
Egypt’s fractious opposition urged its supporters Wednesday to vote “no” on a contentious Islamist-backed draft constitution but left open the possibility of boycotting Saturday’s vote altogether if several conditions were not met.
Hamdeen Sabahi, a leader of the opposition National Salvation Front, called the charter “distorted and flawed and lacking the most important condition, which is national agreement.”
For this, the Front has decided to call for Egyptians to go to the polls and vote ‘no,’ ” Sabahi said at a news conference.
But the decision — coming just three days before voting begins in Egypt — will probably have little practical impact on the street, according to analysts, who say the opposition is vastly out-organized by President Mohamed Morsi’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
The referendum, which is already underway for Egyptians living abroad and will begin Saturday for the 51 million eligible voters inside the country, comes amid legal chaos, with the judiciary as divided as the country itself.
In Egypt, judges are required to supervise ballot boxes during elections and referendums — which means that every ballot box must be under constant observation by judges during the voting process.
At the moment, however, some of the country’s most powerful judicial organizations have sided with the opposition and have refused to help supervise the referendum, citing what they consider to be an array of legal problems with the way Morsi and his Islamist supporters approved the draft charter and called for the vote. Other judges have sided with Morsi and agreed to supervise the vote, and it remains to be seen how many sign up for duty Saturday.
Anticipating a shortage, Egypt’s electoral commission said early Wednesday that voting would take place on two consecutive Saturdays.
This was all so predictable. Except to our best and brightest.
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The Caliphate is forming fast.
Egypt, Libya, Syria (soon), Pakistan (next) and Afghanistan (when we leave). Iran isn’t Sunni, but its interests are aligned. Add Turkey and you have a pretty nasty group.
Arab Spring for whom?
It sounds like Morsei and the brotherhood are fully up to speed on The Chicago way.
Oh, Cairo had been a cesspool of corruption on and off for centuries before Chicago was anything more than grazing land for buffalo herds.
Cairo could always give Chicago lessons in corruption.
It’s not who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes.
“The sharia jurists of al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni learning since the 10th century and the most influential institution in Egyptian life, have decreed that participating in the upcoming referendum is a religious duty for all Muslims.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/335517/sharia-scholars-al-azhar-participating-constitutional-referendum-religious-duty-andrew
Which sort of solves that whole boycott issue…
Synthesizing global events, including the looming economic crash (REPO debt bubble), and that the U.S. dollar and power is tied to oil (which includes keeping others from Middle East alliances.) We cannot possibly fund our entitlement programs going forward or fix the route our economy is headed with any amount of taxation or spending cuts at this point. Zero interest at the Fed. I am wondering if the U.S. has made a pact with the devil, i.e. Muslim Brotherhood/Saudi Arabia. I am wondering whether we are doing their bidding at this point, secretly destabilizing the Middle East and overthrowing pro-Russian and pro-Chinese regimes in favor of pro-Saudi regimes because of a perceived lack of alternative. Arab Spring facilitation. The cyber war. Iran’s nuclear. The missile and anti-missile goings on. (David’s Sling). The Benghazi and Mexican drug cartel (in bed with African Muslim terrorist organizations) gun running operations. That West Point just branched an unusual number of seniors into FA (field artillery, i.e. missiles). The inexplicable behavior toward Israel. Huge media noise/signal ratio.
I am wondering whether we are in hard choice survival mode, and everything else is to keep public panic down. That we are facing hyperinflation, depression, and already in a full-fledged global war, trying to stave off overt WWIII. All transcending politics, parties, rhetoric, and various hypotheses.
Is there any better illustration of what a titanic failure Hillary Clinton has been as Secretary of Inebriation?
After the fall of the Tsar, the Communist were the smallest party in the Russian Parliament, and the Bolsheviks were a small splinter of that party. They won. Somehow, I doubt the opponents of an Islamic Revolution lack the stomach to publicly behead an opponent. The Islamists will do that with gusto, so, based on intensity, it’s hard to believe the “moderates” have what it will take to stop Morsi.