a few other points

Reading THIS BLOG POST by The Arabist reminds me of a few things I forgot to mention.

*Morsi had also promised to name a Christian Vice President, and Mahmoud Mekki is definitely not a Christian. There could still be additional VP’s appointed, but one would have expected Morsi to act on these promises on such a big day to allay fears of a power grab.

*Morsi did eliminate the horrible June 17 declaration by the military that granted ridiculous pre-Revolution-type powers to the military. Good.

*The Arabist points out that with Tantawi and Anan receiving the Order of the Nile medal, they are probably being given amnesty for everything that’s happened since January 2011. Other military figures are being given plum jobs elsewhere in the system, and maybe that was enough for them.

*There is also this: “The overall impression I get is of a change of personalities with continuity in the institution. More junior officers are taking the posts of their former superiors, and some SCAF members are shifting positions. The departure of Tantawi was inevitable considering his age and unpopularity.” I don’t entirely agree with this assessment. The change of personalities is going to have a bigger effect than these sentences indicate. The new personalities will have been appointed by Morsi, after all, and thus will feel answerable to Morsi in a way that Tantawi and Anan would not have. Morsi has also set a precedent under which he has the right to replace people.

*the Arabist also says this: “It is not, as the initial reaction to today’s news largely was, a victory by Morsi over the military. Rather, it is a reconfiguration of the relationship.”

However, notice this contradictory statement later in the post: “It’s hard to think of a way to avoid this considering the lack of alternatives and the mess Egypt is in, but Morsi has effectively, on paper, dictatorial powers.”

That’s right. There is currently no Parliament, and the former senior leadership of the military has agreed to a massive retirement package from a President they were nearly willing to prevent from entering office just 6 weeks ago. I believe this is, in fact, a victory by Morsi over the military, and not just a reconfiguration of the relationship.

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