Bloodless Coup

Egyptian Democracy?

President Mubarak's call to open up this year's presidential elections in Egypt is quite a surprise, and, if you like the idea of spreading democracy in the Middle East, you've got to give the Bush administration credit for the pressure they have recently put on Egypt to move in this direction. If you want to follow some of the thoughts of the informed blogosphere on this I suggest you look at these posts by Issandr, Praktike, and Jonathan. Still, while it is a move that will no doubt please the pro-democracy crowd, this is ar event that need to be watched with caution and a healthy bit of skepticism. Lots of countries have elections. That does not mean that they are open, free and fair. Simply creating the possibility of putting names other than Mubarak's on the presidential ballot does not mean you'll necessarily have much of a race for the country's highest office. Given the lack of press freedoms, or freedom of speech and assembly, in Egypt one should be very cautious about thinking this will lead to a general acceptance of open, organized dissent against the state and the current establishment. And even if something that remotely resembles a Western political campaign comes to pass, Mubarak will still win. In fact, this move might even make him more popular. But all in all, it's an interesting development, and bears a great deal of further attention.