Egypt's military dissolves parliament

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News 13 February 2011 Last updated at 13:59

Egypt's new military authorities say they are dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution.

In a statement on state TV, the higher military council said it would stay in power six months, or until elections.

Meanwhile caretaker Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said his main priority was to restore the country's security, after nearly three weeks of protests.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12443678

---

Only minutes old. Still on Breaking News ticker here : http://english.aljazeera.net/ their full title is
Egypt's military dissolves parliament, says elections to take place in September

I gave up waiting for Al Jazeera and changed link to BBC.

Broadly speaking until then the Army will fulfill the role of the President and the Prime minister will do as he's told - Al Jazeera's words not mine.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

1. I remember with Turkey, if the govt went towards Islamic rule...

The military would move in, kill the civilian leadership, kill the Islamic party members, and declare elections. Turkey had civilian rule in theory, with a military veto. The current Turkish govt purged the military leadership.

The Egyptian military seems to be in no hurry to remove corrupt govt officials.

There are just a few months between now and the September elections. Is that enough time to form parties and educate voters?

Hmmm. Military rule may have been a necessity here...BUT. With a taste of power, will they give it up?

I'm too old a bunny to trust everything I see. Of all the power groups in Egypt, the military seems to be the biggest and the most overlooked.

Just some second thoughts...

[ananda]

4. This army is going to have to yield power to a transitional government soon...

... or that revolution will only produce cosmetic results.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

11. Thats what I'm afraid of.

The Army certainly wasn't loyal to Mubarak. If they are beholden to no one...why give up power?
Or, they could allow for a weak govt to act as a puppet while they still get the great military deals from Washington...and remain as the power behind the throne?

[rox63]

2. The road to democracy will be a rough ride

But I hope it is ultimately a successful one.

[Catherina]

3. Worth keeping a close eye on still

ashrafkhalil ashraf khalil
#egypt generals are mistaken if they people are going to accept next 6 months being ruled by backroom decisions and communiques
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Rec'd

[ananda]

5. The cabinet is to remain though.

Where is the transitional government and real change?

I know that some protesters are trying to remain in Tahrir Sq until
their demands are met, but most of Egypt is not protesting now. See:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121344230580591.html

I wonder if there will have to be another protest and whether that
can really happen again.

[rug]

6. The military dissolving the legislature and suspending the constitution sounds like a victory

for democracy and the rule of law.

[rox63]

7. A new constitution needs to be written

and a legitimate parliament needs to be elected. So these are expected steps.

[Posteritatis]

9. A dictatorship's legislature and constitution are intrinsically worthless

Both of those would have to go anyway, if just to replace them with something better.

[underpants]

8. NYT - "complying with most of the principal demands of the opposition"

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt.html?hp

The Egyptian military, complying with most of the principal demands of the opposition, said Sunday that it had dissolved the country’s parliament, suspended its constitution and called for elections in six months, according to a statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces read on state television. It also said it would honor all of Egypt’s international agreements, including the peace treaty with Israel.

The announcement, the first indication of the direction the military intends to take the country, was welcomed by opposition leaders, who distrusted both houses of parliament after elections in the fall that were widely considered rigged. One of them, Ayman Nour, said that the military’s actions should be enough to satisfy the protesters, some of whom nevertheless refused to leave Tahrir Square and resisted soldiers’ attempts to evict them.

[Posteritatis]

10. I wonder how many people are going to carefully miss that part. (nt)

[oberliner]

12. Egypt's military rejects swift transfer of power and suspends constitution

Source: The Guardian

The Egyptian military has rejected the demands of pro-democracy protesters for a swift transfer of power to a civilian administration, saying it intends to rule by martial law until elections are held.

The army's announcement, which included the suspending of the constitution, was a further rebuff to some pro-democracy activists after troops were sent to clear demonstrators from Cairo's Tahrir Square, the centre of the protests that brought down Hosni Mubarak. "We do not want any protesters to sit in the square after today," said the head of the military police, Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa Ali. Many agreed to leave but a hardcore refused, saying they would remain until the army took a series of steps toward democratic reform including installing a civilian-led government and abolishing the repressive state of emergency.

The ruling military council said it intends to retain power for six months or longer while elections are scheduled and will rule by decree. It suspended the constitution and said a committee will draw up amendments that will be put to a referendum. It also dissolved the widely discredited parliament, elected in a tainted ballot last year.

In a sign that the army will only tolerate a limited challenge to its power, it is expected to issue a communique on Monday saying that it will crack down on those creating "chaos and disorder" as well as effectively banning strikes.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/13/egypt-military-rejects-swift-power-handover

[gateley]

13. Emergency Law (or whatever it's called). I thought that would be

an easy concession for them to make. These people obviously are wonderful citizens, what's the hold up?

[sabrina 1]

14. Well, once we heard that Robert Gates was in direct

communication with top Egyptian military brass throughout this process, should it be any surprise that the U.S. is interfering behind the scenes to ensure the kind of 'transition' that will 'coincide with our interests' over there?

There was never a chance of the U.S. NOT working with whoever they could to make sure the interests of the U.S. take precedence over the interests of the Egyptian people. Why would we stop now? This is business as usual. They had to remove Mubarak, much as they did not want to. But Gates' involvement was very worrying from the beginning.

Looks like the protesters will have to continue to fight to remove all remnants of the regime.

[azurnoir]

19. But that's not all

Israel's Barak in US for top-level talks

Wed Feb 9, 6:16 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak is to hold a series of top-level talks in Washington later on Wednesday which Israeli media say will centre on the unfolding crisis in Egypt.

Barak left Israel on Tuesday for a two-day visit to Washington and New York, and is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and National Security chief Tom Donilon, his office said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/israelusdefencediplomacyegypt


There has been IMO 3 way talks going on for a while now and this develoment is really no surprise IMO

[sabrina 1]

26. And no representatives of the Egytian people were involved

in any of those talks. I hope the people remain committed to what they just fought and many died for. These people have no business interfering in Egypt's future. What will it take for the U.S. to understand, the world now knows they are no friend of democracies anywhere. I hope more people do not have to die to get what the Egyptian people want and have clearly stated. That truly would be a travesty.

[Javaman]

31. Slicing and dicing Egypt for their own gain. nt

[24601]

24. Just who did you expect Obama to have carrying his water with the

Egyptian military, the Education Secretary?

[sabrina 1]

25. Well, I expected the Egyptian people to make any decisions regarding

their future elections and if there were talks which would affect the outcome of the revolution, I would have expected them to be open and honest.

Most of all, I believe the people stated clearly they wanted no interference from Western powers who up to virtually days ago, were still unconcerned about the plight of the Egyptian people.

Certainly the idea of Robert Gates being involved in another country's affairs IS cause for alarm.

[uppityperson]

15. Does this mean they want to give power to an elected pres, not to another appointed dictator?

"Many agreed to leave but a hardcore refused, saying they would remain until the army took a series of steps toward democratic reform including installing a civilian-led government and abolishing the repressive state of emergency."

Good, hold them to what they say they are going to do.

[dipsydoodle]

18. The Army has in effect assumed the role of President

but only until democratic elections are held to find someone of whom the US approves. :sarcasm:

Egypt's Military Dissolves Parliament; Calls for Vote
Kareem Fahim and J. David Goodman, The New York Times News Service: "The Egyptian military, for the first time publicly laying out the terms of its rule, said Sunday that it had dissolved the country’s parliament, suspended its constitution and called for elections in six months, according to a statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces read on state television. The announcement went a long way toward meeting the demands of protesters, who distrusted both houses of parliament after elections in the fall that were widely considered corrupted."
http://www.truth-out.org/egypts-military-dissolves-parliament-calls-vote67698

[uppityperson]

20. I see this whole thing about, by , and for the Egyptian people. I have more faith in them

It will not be easy, but I think there is hope there. That word "hope" has become trite in recent times in some ways, but in this case I do see hope for them.

[dipsydoodle]

21. Their Army has to some extent been in control since the early '50s

The people are used to that. The issue had become the Central Security Force funded to a large extent almost by US aid.

I see hope for them too.

[tahrir]

16. I believe the events of the past week were designed to have the people welcome military rule

and allow us to continue the status quo with just a substitution of the front man.



"Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters."

"This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. In the light of these ideas, Negroes will be hunted at the North, and held and flogged at the South so long as they submit to those devilish outrages, and make no resistance, either moral or physical. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others."


Frederick Douglass, 1857

[PoliticAverse]

17. You're not the only one that believes that...

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/02/game_over_the_chance_for_democracy_in_egypt_is_lost

[MilesColtrane]

22. Not good.

Those people weren't in the streets to assist a military coup.

They'll be back at some point, and I'm afraid the military will not be so forgiving when the people's ire is turned against them rather than Mubarak.

[Igel]

27. How could it have gone otherwise?

Should the Army say there'll be elections tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. and running until 9 p.m.? And that whoever wins is president as soon as the ballots are subject to a provisional count? Would Tuesday be much better? Friday good for you?

Who'd run? Who'd have any press? What are the odds that anybody that actually would be elected, given a few months of investigation, campaigning, etc., would actually be elected? How do you get candidates nominated?

Should the Army just appoint a civilian? "You, Ahmed Muhammed Abdul Rahim. You're president. Pack up your things, you're in Mubarak's house tomorrow. You're president, and have to operate in conjunction with the legislature per the Constitution. Oh. Sorry. No constitution. No legislature. You're it. Welcome to democracy!"

Perhaps whoever happens to be in Tahrir Sq. should decide. After all, they speak for the diversity of 80 million Egyptians, young and old, in Upper and Lower Egypt, Arab and Copt.

And the Constitution? "We want it suspended." "Done." "No, wait. That's not what we meant." "It's what you said."

"No, we meant want a new one. It's a democracy, give us one." "Fine, do you want to be the person to write it? Your friends? Have an election to appoint a committee to produce it? Do we vote on it? When? I know. It's democracy. How's a week from Wednesday for the referendum?"

They get their demands, and it turns out their demands sounded good but had all the far-sightedness of a euglena. They've been cursed, to a large extent, with being given their wishes. How pyrrhic.

As soon as people start saying "the people have said" when a few hundred k out of 80 million have sort of agreed on a few fuzzy agenda points I know that all critical thinking has ceased, and probably all thinking.

[MilesColtrane]

30. The military could start by declaring the end of the Emergency Law which has been in place...

for over forty years.

Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship is legalized.<3> The law sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity, and street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations are formally banned. Some 17,000 people are detained under the law, and estimates of political prisoners run as high as 30,000.<4><5>

Under state of emergency, the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any period. The government continues the claim that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections, confiscate the group's main financiers' possessions, and detain group figureheads, actions which are virtually impossible without emergency law and judicial-system independence prevention.<6> Pro-democracy advocates in Egypt argue that this goes against the principles of democracy, which include a citizen's right to a fair trial and their right to vote for whichever candidate and/or party they deem fit to run their country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_emergency_law

[Matilda]

23. The army always had its own agenda,

and that was to prevent Gamal Mubarak from succeeding his father. He's not an army man, and according to Wikileaks, this was enough for the army to decide that his succession wasn't on.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7620189-wikileaks-the-egyptian-army-may-stop-jamal-mubaraks-dream-to-the-presidency

The popular uprising against Mubarak gave them the perfect opportunity to achieve their aim, and without bloodshed (except courtesy of Mubarak's secret police).

As far as the army's concerned, it will doubtless be back to business.

But many of the protesters are not leaving Tahrir Square - they've tasted their power, and they're not going to give up and go home quietly. How far will the army go to preserve its power? And just what will the U.S. be prepared to do to ensure true democracy for Egypt?

I don't think I will care for the most likely answers to those questions. But I'm going to hope for a bit longer.

[WatsonT]

28. Shocking

who would have thought military rule wouldn't immediately lead to free and open elections?

[Capitalocracy]

29. Where's the petition demanding the U.S. deny military aid to a military dictatorship

in Egypt? Where's the petition demanding that military aid only continue under a civilian government with free elections as demanded by the protestors with no suspension of human and civil rights?

Or do I have to make one myself? :mad:

When I make petitions, nobody signs them. I hope someone with a louder voice than mine is thinking the same thing right now.