Any constitution needs to be generally accepted as workable for all mainstream strands of a country’s politics, who should be able to share a common understanding of how the country runs. The danger facing Egypt is that its present Islamist government has steadily forced through its own narrow view of how the country should be run, leaving little room for any other party to be able to accept the constitution, the parliament once it is re-elected or the present definition of the presidency. President Mohammad Mursi rammed the constitution through with the support of the Islamist remnant of the original body, after all other parties had resigned in disgust. Now Mursi has announced that the parliamentary elections will be held in October, not this month as was originally planned. The liberal opposition has said that they will boycott the polls unless they are run on more open lines.
Another example of how the Muslim Brotherhood is insisting on more complete control of Egyptian society is its crackdown on free speech. Mursi dodged constitutional protocol to appoint Talaat Abdullah as Prosecutor General, who has now started to repay him with a series of arrests. Last week, he ordered the arrest of nine opposition activists in Alexandria, having already launched proceedings against five prominent activists — including Alaa Abdul Fattah and Mona Saif — for allegedly inciting violence against the Brotherhood. The third incident was that involving popular Egyptian satirist Bassem Yousuf, who has faced many complaints from Brotherhood loyalists about his show. But last week was the first time that he was actually summoned to court.
The Islamist-backed constitution does not offer enough guarantees for a free media, but this important issue is a symptom of a much wider problem as the Brotherhood forces Egypt into its narrow political agenda. However, a complete economic failure may well trigger a major backlash against the Brotherhood. Egyptians may be able to ignore a dubious constitution, but they cannot ignore mass unemployment, soaring cost of food and steep inflation.
