Sisi era begins: Future of democracy looks bleak in Egypt

Former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has taken over as the new president of Egypt following recent elections in which he won "97 per cent of the votes". Before a panel of judges of the supreme constitutional court, Field Marshal Sisi swore to protect country's republican system and interest of the people.

The oath-taking ceremony was marked by low-level attendance by the democratic Western countries which  are wary about the future of democracy in a country that only briefly witnessed the rule of an elected government not long ago. Sisi overthrew the government of the elected president Mohammed Morsi last year.

Another phase of rule by military strongman now begins in Egypt. Sisi follows Gamal Abdel Naser, Anwar Saadat and finally, Hosni Mubark - who all were from the military and catapulted themselves to the top. Naser met a natural death, Saadat was assasinated and Mubarak was toppled by a mass movement called "Arab Spring" demanding democratic and economic reforms.

The Land of the Nile, population-wise the largest Arab nation and a key player in regional and international politics, successfully held its first democratic elections for a president more than two years ago. The event was seen as a big step forward for the nation in its march towards representative rule. As a positive fallout fcrom the Arab Spring that created a kind of sensation  in the middle east and north Africa (MENA), the long ruling ruler of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was swept away from power by the irresistible waves of popular uprising. The Arab Spring removed several autocrats from power and more importantly, elections took place in these nations in true democratic spirit. Tunisia, Libya and Egypt held historic balloting that was somewhat unthinkable in most of the MENA countries earlier. Not that  things have been quite smooth in these nations as far as the transition is concerned. This has been a very meaningful chapter of the present-time international scenario. But the hopes of popular rule in the MENA have also been dashed in some cases as the journey is evidently quite bumpy. In case of Egypt, this has been somewhat like going back to "square one". It is also true that the elected government failed to live up to people's expectations.

Egypt was the second nation after Tunisia when strongman Hosni Mubarak had to relinquish power facing popular unrest. The "Tahrir Square" in capital Cairo's heartland had emerged as the symbol of democratic aspirations. But the military council, which took over the reins of the government as a  short-term arrangement towards transition to democracy and promised necessary reforms, at times appeared ambiguous about the scheduled scheme of things. Their actions created some degree of uncertainty, but people kept on mounting pressure by occasionally gathering again at the Tahrir Square  and the council  responded to people's will. As the parliament elections and the presidential elections took place in conformity with the aspirations of the people, many still looked askance at military's "designs".

But the rule by elected president Mohammed Morsi  was a disappointment since it was too keen to hastily implement the agenda of his Muslim Brotherhood organisation that had infuriated the secular and other forces. His government also failed to solve the economic woes. As his government completed the first year of the five-year term, things turned out to be quite difficult. The military was believed to be waiting in the wings for an "opportunity" that emerged because of the failure of political parties to reach any understanding on the political impasse. Finally, army chief, the then General Sisi, who was given the charge of the army by Morsi himself, acted and toppled the government. As supporters of the deposed president clamoured for the restoration of his government, the military used massive power to demolish the protests by killing several hundred people. This shocked the democratic world.

But Sisi, who later became a Field Marshal, went ahead with his scheme of things that was capped by the election of a new president which he easily won. His only challenger, a leftist, secured less than 3.0 per cent of the votes. Obviously, this has been a "big victory" in the eye of the government. But the election was marred by low turnout of voters as the banned Muslim Brotherhood and several other forces called for boycott of balloting.

The secular forces, who supported the ouster of Morsi government, have also been victims of the present authority. However, both the Islamists and secularists have to blame themselves to some extent for the virtual return of autocratic rule in Egypt under the guise of democracy. The Arab Spring that made history, particularly in Egypt, has now become irrelevant and the people by and large have also accepted this as a kind of fait accompli. Although the character of his government is clearly not democratic, the new president Sisi enjoys a broad degree of support as he promises stability.

The Land of Nile has disappointed the admirers of representative governance. The important nation in the MENA, it has a role to play worth emulating for others.

While Western nations are sceptical about the future of democracy in Egypt, oil-rich Arab monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE are fully supporting the Sisi government. They could not hide their glee when Morsi was toppled. Evidently, these nations are not bothered about representative rule.

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