Elections? What Elections?

Recycled leaders: Political cartoon depicts the cycle from
Mubarak to Morsi and now to al-Sisi

Two days into the Egyptian presidential elections, voter turnout is so low that Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb declared today a national holiday. Voter enthusiasm is wan, dissidents have been locked up in the tens of thousands, and no one seems to doubt what the outcome of this “election” will be. Former Defense Minister Abdel al-Sisi will almost certainly emerge victorious, both because he controls the state-run propaganda machine of the media, and because he has locked up, tortured, or disappeared all those who would be powerful enough to stand against him. In the seventh vote or referendum since Egypt’s revolution of 2011, it appears that the country is no closer to democracy than when it began the process of casting off authoritarian rule.

Al-Sisi’s only opponent in the election is left-wing Nasserist Hamdeen Sabahi. Sabahi ran in the 2012 presidential elections and came in third, but is viewed as mere window dressing to give the elections the air of democracy. Even though Sabahi’s chances of victory are next to nothing, campaign workers have nonetheless reported being blocked from polling stations, and prominent lawyer Ahmed Hanafi Abu Zaid was brutally beaten and arrested in a dispute with another campaign worker.

State (of) Media and Egyptian Democracy

"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech." - Benjamin Franklin

The dominant reporting in Egypt goes something like this: Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected President, and his Muslim Brotherhood are a threat to Egyptian national security. His removal from power by the military, while not unlike a coup, was legitimated by massive anti-government protests and widespread disapproval of Morsi's leadership, both of which threaten Egypt's social fabric. The Egyptian army, backed by popular support, stepped in to secure order and will act as midwife to the ugly, winding road to democracy. Democracy, democracy, democracy!

While it's tempting to take any of these statements at face value, we're talking about a process with many competing interests and variables. Political plurality, free and fair elections, institutions and the rule of law all play a role in the democratic process. But in a country like Egypt with a dark history of martial--not rule of--law, government co-option of political parties, and a strangled press, these pillars of governance increasingly rely on independent assessment to test their efficacy. This role is traditionally shared by rights groups, professional syndicates and especially the media who act as watchdogs to and stakeholders in the political process. During this time of political transition and constitutional referendum in Egypt, neutral analysis of government action is central to the country's democratic potential. However, the current treatment of reporters, and harassment of domestic and foreign media outlets in Egypt (along with exclusion from the political arena and state-run media) throws doubt on the legitimacy of its democratic process.

Obama Suspends Aid to Egypt

In a far cry from President Obama’s 2009 speech at Cairo University, new plans are in the works to further distance the United States from Egypt, a longtime pillar of U.S. national security and partner in the Middle East. An anonymous official in the Obama Administration revealed today that the United States would drastically reduce its $1.3 billion in military assistance to Egypt, a move borne out of pointed frustration toward Egyptian military leaders.

Coming on the heels of recent clashes between Morsi supporters, opponents and security forces, the suspension of aid in some part functions as diplomatic disapproval of the heavy-handed and lethal tactics employed against demonstrators and the increasingly authoritarian behavior displayed by Egypt’s interim leadership—the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).  Just this Sunday, over 50 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Since the military coup on July 3^rd that overthrew President Morsi—Egypt’s first democratically elected president—hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters arrested during the ensuing social and political unrest. The Egyptian army has detained Morsi in a secret location since his overthrow, and the Ministry of Social Solidarity is on the cusp of banning the Muslim Brotherhood as a civil society organization after a court called for the ban and a freeze on the organization’s assets back in September. Backed by popular outrage, the SCAF is doing everything in its power to suppress both violence and the Islamists that came to power in June 2012.