Experts Weigh in on Political Shake Up in Egypt

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Marc Lynch writing in Foreign Policy argues “Morsi’s moves were a bold and unexpected frontal assault on the senior military leadership, but not a decisive one” and cautions “the current phase of Egyptian politics is going to be a long, grinding institutional war of position.” Echoing Lynch, Ernesto Londoño suggests in the Washington Post that Morsi’s actions indicated that “the Brotherhood is willing to act more quickly and assertively in taking control of key institutions than analysts had predicted.” However, Paul Sullivan of the National Defense University calls it “a bold move that could backfire at Morsi.”

In theWall Street Journal, Matt Bradley says the “move helps vindicate Mr. Morsi’s stated efforts to set a precedent for the new Egyptian presidency as a fully independent office.” Steven A. Cook with the Council on Foreign Relations writes that Morsi’s legitimacy as Egypt’s first popularly elected president gives him the credibility to portray the shake up as “done in the name of building a ‘civil state.’” David Ignatius labels the sacking of Tantawi as “either an example of democracy in action and civilian control of the military, or a Muslim Brotherhood putsch, depending on your viewpoint.”

Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center writes ”What we saw … in Egypt increasingly seems like a mix of a civilian counter-coup and a coordinated coup within the military itself.” Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. diplomat, wrote, “With military stripped of legislative authority and in absence of parliament, president holds imperial powers. Transitional mess continues.”

Looking forward, Michele Dunne with the Atlantic Council argues that the fate of the constituent assembly and future senior judicial appointments will serve as the next major test for internal relations as “there have been rumors that Morsi will act soon to change the composition of the Supreme Constitutional Court.”