Genevieve Hathaway, one of our astrologers, lives in Cairo. She just sent in her copy with a little update about yesterday’s election results, and I asked if she would elaborate. This article is what she sent. For background, here is a Planet Waves subscriber series article from last year called Something About Egypt. Don’t miss the photos!
A tense week in Egypt led up to the announcement of the country’s newly elected president, Mohammed Morsi (or if you’ve been reading BBC, then that would be Mursi — the world press is again having trouble spelling a world leader’s name). On June 16 and 17, Egyptians stood in line for hours at polling stations to vote for their president, choosing between the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi and the establishment candidate Ahmed Shafiq.
Morsi, Egypt’s first Islamist president, and the Muslim Brotherhood favor a more conservative, Islamic law-based government. Shafiq, Mubarak’s last vice president, represents a continuation of the Mubarak regime. Supporters of Shafiq have been termed fatool, which literally translates to remnant, but in this context means traitor.
With 30 years under Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has not been a country with many political parties or experienced politicians, save the Muslim Brotherhood. They know how to play the political game well. Within hours of the polls closing of the night of June 17, Morsi and his supporters descended on Tahrir Square where he gave a victory speech. This started confusion spreading throughout Egypt. Had Morsi and the Brotherhood won? Nobody on the streets of Cairo seemed certain. This was their first experience with a presidential election and the election commission had said nothing on who had one, yet Morsi was declaring himself the victor.
The military prior to the election had made a number of moves that could be interpreted as setting up a coup. The military on June 14 dissolved the Parliament, which was led by the Muslim Brotherhood. In response to this move by the military, the Brotherhood announced that “dangerous days” were ahead. Also, just before the presidential runoff election the constitutional court ruled to overturn a law passed by Parliament which had prevented former members of Mubarak’s regime from running for president. This opened the door for the military’s choice, Ahmed Shafiq, to run for president.