Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr
The Arab
uprisings are redefining the political landscape of the Middle East and North
African region. Despite recent transitional political processes being
experienced by some Arab countries, chaos, uncertainty, fear, cases of sexual
abuses against women, and struggle for power by sectarian groups still describe
the general condition of affected countries especially in Egypt. In most recent
development in Egypt, the so called first ‘democratically’ elected –transitional
leader Muhammad Morsi, has been forcibly removed from power by a popular
Egyptian demonstration.
The
public demand was based simply on the assumption that Morsi’s administration
failed to deliver Egypt from economic and political reforms and instead he
vowed to ratify the Egyptian constitution by allocating more power to the president-a
move that create another public outcry and eventually led to his removal.
Although
the call was popular, it cannot be denied that the interventionary power of the
Egyptian military force was increasingly crucial to his removal. Given this scenario,
some questions are worth asking;
What will
be the future role of the Egyptian Military forces in Egypt? Would there be a
guarantee that the Egyptian Military Forces remain committed to the same
notions of freedom, justice and democracy and economic liberalization that
Egyptian people want? Will the Armed forces returns democracy and government
management to the Egyptian people? What will be the future of the Islamic
Brotherhood in Egypt?
It becomes
a normal practice in many Arab countries that military armed forces play a
crucial role in the removal and instalment of Arab leaders. In the history of
the modern Egypt, Egyptian presidents such as Gamal Abdul Nasser Hussein, Anwar
Sadat and Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
rose to power from being the officers of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
Such
condition was also practiced in Iraq during President Sadam , Hafiz Assad in Syria
and King Hussain of Jordan where
three of them were active members of the Armed Forces before serving as the
heads of their respective countries.
However,
with the popular uprising in the Arab world today, it becomes clear that Arab
peoples want changes in their own countries. Given the critical role of the Military
Forces in a transitional Egypt, it remains prudent if they will stay committed
to the genuine aspiration of the majority of the Egyptian people for change and
not become an instrument of another change which does not have strong support
from the Egyptian people.
In short
the Egyptian Military Forces may not completely need to emulate Turkish
military in restoring the country’s democratic institutions in times of
political crisis but it should stay as a credible
guard to Egyptian cry for democracy and economic emancipation during and
after the transition and not an instrument to another source of political
misfortune in Egypt.
Aside
from this, the Egyptian Military Forces must exercise non discriminatory
practices towards the minorities such as the Coptic Christians. After all the
forces that led down the revolution and overthrow
the former President Mubarak were not
identified with a certain Egyptian group(s) but by the majority of the Egyptian
people who dreamed for a genuine change
in their own land. In addition to this, members of the Islamic brotherhood must
also be treated with equal rights like other non-members.
The
bright future of Egypt does not rest on the dominance of one group over another
but by the collective aspiration, commitment and interests of the entire
Egyptian nation.
_______________________
*Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr is an
Assistant Professor at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines,
Diliman. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of
Tehran, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of
Shahid Behesti, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran and Bachelor of Science in
International Relations at the King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian
Studies, Mindanao State University, Marawi City, Philippines.
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