The Wind of Change Has Died
Egypt’s runoff election signals the end of revolutionary energy. The old regime has played its cards wisely and taken the wind out of the sails of the revolutionary project.
I wasn’t surprised when the former air force general Ahmed Shafik and Mohamed Morsy from the Muslim Brotherhood were announced as contestants in this month’s runoff elections for the Egyptian presidency. I could only smile and shrug my shoulders. What else would we have expected except the absolute worst?
The revolution in Egypt seems lethargic today, and almost as chewy as a strip of old gum that has been stuck to the pavement for months. Many developments of the past year were foreseeable. Shortly before the first round of voting in the presidential elections, a few Egyptian friends still laughed at the notion that the regime would produce a wild card at the last minute. Many expected that Amr Moussa, the former foreign minister, would become Egypt’s next president. I was skeptical whether transition would be as easy. It was to be expected that Ahmed Shafi would emerge on the scene as the icing on the cake of the old elites and as an unpleasant surprise for the revolutionaries.
Now, the choice is between the old guard or the conservative candidate of the Brotherhood’s “Freedom and Justice Party.
” I had expected a great wave of political depression after the first round of voting. The nomination of Shafik and Morsy for the runoff election has indeed led many revolutionaries into a state of shock and mental paralysis.