Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Egyptian presidential elections marked by mass abstention and fraud

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, June 18, 2012

Egyptian presidential elections marked by mass abstention and fraud

Click here to access article by Johannes Stern from World Socialist Web Site.

This weekend's runoff election managed by the US backed military junta (SCAF) in Egypt was characterized by allegations of fraud and low voter turnout.

In the run-offs over the weekend, Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak faced Mohamed Mursi, the candidate of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Both Shafiq and Mursi are right-wing representatives of the Egyptian ruling class, hostile to the social and democratic aspirations of the Egyptian revolution and widely discredited amongst the Egyptian masses.

I don't agree with the author's statement that "These events exposed the 'democratic transition' organized by the junta since the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution as a political fraud." This grossly exaggerates political operative's ability to instigate virulent mass upheavals even if they wanted to, which they don't because of unpredictable outcomes. The Egyptian junta in collaboration with Empire operatives have so far been able to contain this popular opposition by channeling the anger through carefully managed elections. See this explanation for what happened in Egypt and nearby countries that were infected by the Arab Spring virus. For Empire operatives the promotion of carefully managed elections has proven time and again to be effective in containing dissent whether in Egypt or Wisconsin.