Egyptian Military: We Won't Run a Candidate for President

 In what would normally be good news for a country that has been ruled by the armed forces for fifty years, we now see a potential path to power for the Muslim Brotherhood. A chief member of the Egyptian military has announced that the organization will not run a candidate for the Presidency of Egypt. Elections are planned for this September but may move up earlier.

Members of the Egyptian military have repeatedly said that it would honor the peace treaty with Israel. The military is the most respected institution in the Muslim-majority nation and will rule for about six months during a transition to another government. This transition is currently revising the Constitution, but is being presided over by an Islamist judge once affiliated with the Brotherhood.

The BBC is running a story that puts Egypt's stability and hopes for democracy in doubt:

  1451: Proof that a real sea-change may be on the way in Egypt: defence official Maj Gen Mokhtaar Mullah says there will be "no presidential candidate from the military establishment in upcoming presidential elections".

 
In Kemalist Turkey, the military has stepped in to prevent Islamist control of the country in the past. In many ways, Turkey's army represents the last bulwark of stability and secularism in the country if all else fails. The leading AKP party is in line with political Islam and has been attempting to weaken the military's influence.

Egypt's military should keep in mind what happened in Iran after 1979. Khomeinei did not take power immediately but vaulted over secular and democratic-leaning parties. When in power, the Ayatollah and his theocratic followers had the officer corps massacred.

Gamal Nasser ran the country after the overthrow of King Fahd in the 1950s. After Nasser's death in 1970, Awar Sadat, also from the military ruled until his assassination in 1981. Hosni Mubarak came in as a ranking member of the Air Force and was dictator for thirty years.

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