Egypt's next parliament to be led by Islamist

[Little Tich]

Source: The Washington Post

CAIRO — Liberals and Islamists in Egypt announced a temporary agreement Monday on a power-sharing plan that would install a Muslim Brotherhood leader as speaker of the country’s newly elected parliament.

The agreement among six political parties all but guarantees that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party will lead Egypt’s first elected parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February, with the Islamist party expected to control as many as half the seats.

Under the power-sharing agreement, the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party and the liberal al-Wafd party would also claim top positions, with their representatives serving as deputy speakers, the parties announced during a news conference Monday at the Freedom and Justice Party’s headquarters.

With a week left until the lower house of the parliament meets, the Freedom and Justice Party said its nominee for speaker would be Mohamed Saad Katatny, the party’s secretary general.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypts-parliament-to-be-led-by-islamist/2012/01/16/gIQASabE3P_story.html?tid=pm_pop

[riderinthestorm]

1. Only 5 women elected out of almost 500. First thing abolished was Mubarak's allotment for female MPs

I really hope I'm wrong about the direction this is going....

[cstanleytech]

2. That "any" got elected though is a sign of some hope.

We shall just have to wait and see though how it plays out over the next few years.

[provis99]

3. thus proving democracy in Egypt is as idiotic as dictatorship.

Its going to be just like in Algeria, where the idiot voters elected an Islamic party who's first promise was to get rid of elections.

[AverageJoe90]

8. There were widespread allegations of election fraud committed by the MB last year.

At least a few people have seemed to wake up and hopefully, that will continue.

[Little Tich]

4. My biggest worry is that the military will try to influence the constitution to include them.

Even if the constitution is written largely by Islamic parties, it will, if good enough, truthfully reflect the people's desire for democracy.

There are many political knots to untie in Egypt, and I don't think that the transformation from Police-state to democracy will be painless and without casualties. But unless the Egyptian people change their minds and decide to go medieval, any change will be better than it was before.

[Monty22001]

5. Wow, who woulda thought this would end up like this..

Who woulda thought an islamic dictatorship could be worse than a secular one?

Or woulda thought an islamic country would prefer the secular one over the islamic one?

Or woulda thought they'd want some American/European style 'democracy' or 'freedom' compared to shariah theocracy at all?


Ok, all sarcasm aside, who thought this would have ended differently?

[JCMach1]

7. In Islam there IS no separation of Mosque and State

[AverageJoe90]

9. It could have, were it not for the criminal antics of the Muslim Brotherhood. nt

[FarCenter]

6. Had Mubarak not been a collaborator with Israel and the US, he'd still be in power.

After the initial phases, the Islamists provided the masses to sway the military against Mubarak.

Had the Islamists stuck with Mubarak, the military would have put the rebellion down.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. "I'm a terrorist and I vote"

And in other news, my Egyptian neighbors back home made an unsolicited offer to buy my empty house in California, he said his wife's family are planning to emigrate as soon as the ink on their visas is dry and he wants to set them up nearby.