[Nine months after the rising protests against Mubarak]…the Brotherhood had reclaimed its status as Egypt’s most powerful political force following decades of suppression. In the country’s first free parliamentary elections, its newly created Freedom and Justice party won more than 35 per cent of the vote in the first round, and slightly more in December’s second round.
Even more worrying for those hoping the Arab world’s largest nation would adopt a liberal, pro-western face, fellow Islamists from the puritanical Salafi movement emerged with more than 25 per cent, a score likely to be confirmed in the third and final round of voting in January.
“This is the real Egyptian revolution,” says Jon Alterman of the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and one of the international observers at the Egyptian elections. “In February, the military removed Hosni Mubarak. This is the revolution that reorients power in Egypt.”
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[blockquote]Even more worrying for those hoping the Arab world’s largest nation would adopt a liberal, pro-western face, fellow Islamists from the puritanical Salafi movement emerged with more than 25 per cent, a score likely to be confirmed in the third and final round of voting in January.[/blockquote]
And this is surprising in what way?
Arab Winter.
It surprised the liberal groups in Egypt, the young Facebook activists who wanted to get rid of a restrictive regime. Typical to their culture, they didn’t think ahead about what would be next. They were unprepared for elections, whereas the Brotherhood and the Salafis had pre-existing organizations to swing into action.
An Egyptian friend of mine, a retired man of some stature, attended a meeting with other high-ranking government and military types about three years ago. He told them that if elections were held the Islamists would win. “Oh, no, you are wrong!” they insisted. Alas, he knew what he was talking about.