generalspeaking

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Democracy of the Muslim Brotherhood

"The line was barely moving and women were very slowly allowed inside to vote. We all felt they were trying to get us to leave.
"We also wanted to make it clear to the officers guarding the door that we weren't leaving. I overheard one of the officers joke with his colleague saying a tear gas bomb would get rid of this whole queue, so I told him we're used to the tear gas and we're staying.
"There were four voting booths which means four voters can go in at a time, which would've moved the process a lot faster."
Aya Hossam

But of course the process was not meant to be moved along. But, as Ms. Hossam concluded, to be held up. And ideally, the women deterred from voting. Did the Muslim Brotherhood feel that women would be less likely to vote? Might that possibly be because the draft constitution mentioned nothing that would protect the rights of women?

After waiting about an hour women lined up to vote on that controversial draft constitution so dear to the heart of President Mohammed Morsi, began to realize that this was turning out to be a more complex situation than they had imagined. An hour had passed and the line had barely begun to move. It took about four hours before they managed to get inside to vote.

The turnout in Saturday's referendum was a staggeringly unimpressive 32%.

Kind of amazing in a society that is so roiled with uncertainty and outrage over a new regime that is exhibiting shocking echoes of the old one that they had so recently succeeded in removing. The intention in so doing was not the installation of an Islamist sharia-headed government for the original protest groups, but this is what they have inherited.

Ten governorates have voted, the remaining 17 are set to go to the polls on December 22. Those will be mostly rural votes, where people are more conservative, more likely to support an Islamist government. In contrast to the votes in Cairo and Alexandria where resistance to the Muslim Brotherhood is more enhanced; despite which, the majority votes cast were in accord with President Morsi's aims.

The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights head of operations feels that the stalling represented a deliberate technique to turn people away, mostly women. "There was a problem with the organizaiton overall. The Supreme Electoral Commission should've taken into account the number of voters and held the referendum over two days", and that's a generous interpretation of the intent and effect.

But the Women's Rights Centre is also convinced that violations occurred with particular targets; Coptic Christians and women who dared appear to vote without headscarves. Clearly, their presence exposed their intention. The women waiting in long lines that never moved expressed their frustration chanting "We're not leaving".

Labels: Conflict, Culture, Democracy, Egypt, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Realities, Sexism