Egypt on the verge of electing an army-backed president

Egyptian strongman Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is likely to become the next president of the country even though he has not officially announced his candidature for the top position. Meanwhile, veteran left politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the founder of Popular Current (PC), announced on February 09 his bid to run for the presidency.
Field Marshal Sisi said that he would seek election for the presidency if there was a "popular demand". His fellow military generals have already proposed his name for the job. Barring unforeseen developments, Sisi, who toppled the elected president Mohammed Morsi last July, will be the next head of state in the presidential elections that are expected to be held shortly.
Earlier, the much-hyped referendum held by the army-backed government helped the military tighten its grip in the running of a country where the only democratically elected leader had a very short span of rule. The just-concluded referendum on the new constitution that diluted and dropped several clauses of the last constitution by the elected government of Morsi, was approved by the people overwhelmingly. The turnout was not, however, satisfactory. More particularly, the youths, who played the key role in the ouster of two presidents - one autocrat and the other elected in recent times, were largely absent in giving their views in the referendum. The latest development suggests that former president Morsi, detained and facing trial, is set to have tougher time unless things unexpectedly favour him.
Morsi was overthrown by the armed forces in July last year. He was in power only for one year. As the military took over power, the constitution was suspended and parliament stood dissolved. His political opponents, who were clamouring for his resignation and fresh elections, were jubilant over the development although they earlier had said that a military coup to remove the president could not be supported. Undoubtedly, the Islamist president got embroiled in myriad problems that he could not resolve and consequently, he had to leave. Probably, he had to be largely blamed for his fate. But the development was contrary to democratic practice and spirit. Egypt has been under military rulers since 1952, barring the one year that the elected government of Morsi was in power.
Morsi initially opted for a realistic approach as regards his government's ties with the powerful military. He struck a conciliatory note for better understanding with the armed forces. He played down the differences that had arisen between him and the military immediately before and after the first multi-party democratic election held in Egypt in 2012. Morsi won the 2012 presidential polls and carved out a niche for himself in the history of Egypt which is the largest country in the Arab world in terms of population and also wields considerable influence in the regional and international sphere.
Soon after taking over as president, Morsi played down the tensions with the armed forces on a variety of issues. Such tensions stemmed from the fact that the military was not quitting the scene as far as real power was concerned even in a democratic setup. He praised the armed forces for all the positive developments that took place in the country since the fall of the autocrat Hosni Mubarak who quit as a sequel to the unrest blowing across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region in demand for democratic and economic reforms. But later, the armed forces acted as the beleaguered president rejected an ultimatum to resolve problems with his political foes or quit the scene in 24 hours. He insisted that he was an elected leader for a five-year term. Nonetheless, he was overthrown and is now facing trial.
Morsi has a Muslim Brotherhood background and he seldom received any support from the military whose key persons are hangovers from the Mubarak regime.
 Leftist leader Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 presidential elections, has vowed to carry the flames of the "Egyptian revolution", a mantra that positions Sisi as an establishment figure. Field Marshal Sisi is being likened by many to 1960-era popular autocrat Gamal Abdel Naser - the former toppled an elected president and the latter an autocratic king.
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