The Rigged Vote
Egypt makes a pretense at holding legitimate elections, but it is a gesture, nothing more, nothing less. And the population, accustomed to living in an autocratic police state expects nothing less of its government. For whom will they vote, after all, other than a political ideology that began as a credible alternative to the-then prevailing totalitarianism, then moved toward fanaticism. The Muslim Brotherhood was born out of a Marxist ideology that was transformed into an Islamist-fascist ideology.Egypt's General Anwar Sadat was a member of the fledgling Muslim Brotherhood, but President Anwar Sadat was not, and it was cadres of the Muslim Brotherhood that assassinated him in pay-back for bowing to the practical inevitable and signing a peace agreement with the State of Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed, and remains outlawed in Egypt, but it has since grown in numbers exponentially, sending its tentacles out all over the world, as it inveigles itself into Western societies, presenting a moderate facade to cover its fanatical purpose.
Political Egypt allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to gain a certain political/social acceptance among its desperate poor, and political opportunists intent on bringing a stricter form of Islam to dominate the country, and the result was respectability through the election of candidates for public office. President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party was far more accustomed to receiving something in the neighbourhood of (a well-planned) 89% of the public vote, ensuring his ongoing presidency.
The real face of the Muslim Brotherhood can be seen in their offshoot Hamas, ruling in Gaza, with their agenda of violent hostility and the implementation of a fundamentalist sharia judicial code. They pose a direct existential threat to the State of Israel, and an extended threat to Egypt. Voting was rigged as it usually is, but for this election in a manner that included a greater share of bullying, ballot stuffing and allied dealing that left the Brotherhood candidates out in the cold, with not one of their 130 candidates seeing election or re-election.
Violence, a handful of deaths, dedicated manoeuvres to ensure the outcome and all's fair in Middle East politics to gain the predictable upper hand. Manipulation and fraud are not new to any country in the Middle East, bar none. The Muslim countries of the Middle East enjoy various levels of Islamic presence and doctrine, but with a few notable exceptions (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria) they prefer to modernize and leverage more secular-oriented governments. Islamists need not apply.
And so the trickery and the vote rigging and the violence is deplorable. But not as dreadful as the prospect of the Muslim Brotherhood coming anywhere near an intolerable balance of greater authority in the country. The spectre of Lebanon's dysfunction and Hezbollah's rise to power and authority should be sufficient impetus for any Arab Muslim government to rise to the occasion to defeat the ascending threat of such Islamists by any means possible.
"When elections are held in the dark (filling ballot boxes in illegally closed voting stations), it is likely that elections were rigged entirely", according to the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights. Right. And what would they prefer; representing human rights they would bewail what would befall the country should the Muslim Brotherhood ever be capable of exerting political control.
Labels: Middle East, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, December 02, 2010
<< Home