In Egypt, over two weeks ago, President Mohammed Morsi announced a constitutional decree that was seen by many as a power grab in the absence of an elected parliament and a ratified new constitution. Opposition forces returned to Tahrir Square demanding that he rolls back his decisions. He reacted by hastily scheduling a referendum on a new constitution drafted by a body dominated by Islamists. Yesterday, he gave the military police powers authorizing it to arrest civilians during the December 15 vote.

Governments in Tunisia and Egypt face a major test partly because the current leaders have been dragging their feet making the transition to democratic rule. The common feature is that both countries are now governed by Islamist parties. A close look will reveal serious concerns that may lead to the fall of the current governments, which could trigger chaos in the region.
The Muslim Brotherhood, who joined late the uprising that ousted the former autocrat, seem to think that they can now make the revolution
theirs. They think that they can provide a fresh narrative that gives them
credit for removing a dictator and protecting the revolution.
The same is happening in Tunisia. Nearly a year after the fall of Ben Ali’s regime, Tunisia held its
first free and fair elections. On October 23, 2011,
Ennahdha movement, the Tunisian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, won nearly 42
percent of the seats of the constitutional assembly. The vote was supposed
to produce a temporary government and a temporary legislative body tasked with
writing a new constitution on the basis of which new elections will produce the
new institutions of governance. They were supposed to accomplish these tasks in
one year. A year has passed and nothing was accomplished.
It appears that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahdha in Tunisia are more interested in entrenching themselves in the halls of power than transitioning to representative governance. Most people in these two countries started to see this pattern and they went back to the street reminding the new rulers that they do not want to go back to single party or one person rule.
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