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The SCAF

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Blame the SCAF for Egypt's Problems - By Joshua Stacher. On Sunday evening, Egyptian plainclothes police and the army attacked a protest by peaceful demonstrators.

Blame the SCAF for Egypt's Problems - By Joshua Stacher

Dozens were killed and hundreds wounded, while state television spread inflammatory news of Copts attacking soldiers. Many immediately concluded that sectarianism was to blame, rather than the military command which oversaw the bloodbath. The ability of Egypt's Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) to avoid accountability for its actions lies at the heart of the problems in today's Egypt. This myth about Egypt's transition runs deep.

It blames the stagnation of the country's transition on the divided protest movement, unsatisfied public sector workers, factory labors, and rural farmers. The consensus view of the SCAF seems to be that the Council is comprised of honorable men who haphazardly rule, clumsily respond, and do not lust for power. Blame for the sorry state of the Egyptian transition should not be shared. Tech. Egypt's Military Custodianship. Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State. For background on so-called fi’awi protest, see Hesham Sallam, “Striking Back at Egyptian Workers,” Middle East Report 259 (Summer 2011).

Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State

For background on SCAF-Islamist relations, see Joshua Stacher, “Egypt Without Mubarak,” Middle East Report Online, April 7, 2011. The turbulence that has hit Egypt since mid-November seems, at first glance, mostly a testament to the poor performance of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in handling the transition away from the rule of Husni Mubarak. Having assumed power on February 10, the SCAF moved quickly to attain the stamp of popular legitimacy through a March 19 referendum on constitutional amendments. Since then, however, the conclave of generals has stumbled over the flawed logic of its own plan for the transition, as well as ad hoc decision making and a high-handed, dismissive attitude toward the new politics of the country.

Fateful Triangle Dark Clouds Over Cairo. After elections, what happens to SCAF? Graffiti in Tahrir Square, Cairo, May 23, 2012.

After elections, what happens to SCAF?

Scott MacLeod for the Cairo Review. May 23, 2012 Egyptians headed to the polls this week not knowing who will emerge victorious at the ballot box. Gone are the grim certainties that once defined Egyptian political life. But while this first post-revolution presidential election is competitive, it is not fully free and fair. This is not to suggest that the country’s interim military rulers will engage in massive vote-rigging and fraud. Midnight for the SCAF's Cinderella Story - By Nathan J. Brown. In the year since Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) drafted and issued its "Constitutional Declaration," the Egyptian political process has followed no consistent political logic.

Midnight for the SCAF's Cinderella Story - By Nathan J. Brown

But it has largely followed the declaration's text, which is leading to some results that should have been expected but largely were not. On one critical and controversial issue -- the sequence of constitution writing and presidential elections -- the document was simply silent. However, on another critical and controversial issue it was definitive: who would write and approve the constitution. Observers, and even more, some participants, overlooked the significance of the silent and the definitive provisions -- sensibly enough, since they made little sense. But these odd features have now combined to bring the SCAF's control of the process near an end.

First, with regard to sequence, most observers have suspected that the SCAF did have a specific order in mind. Nathan J. Morsi Versus the Military Council. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammad Morsi’s victory in the presidential election widens Egypt’s democratic opening by a crucial, if narrow, margin.

Morsi Versus the Military Council

But a long and difficult struggle lies ahead before democratically elected civilian leaders can assert meaningful authority over the country’s armed forces. Without this, future governments will lack the genuine autonomy to devise and implement policies, and will remain chronically unstable. Summary: Despite the SCAF’s ever tightening grip on key Egyptian political institutions, President Mohammed Morsi still has room to lay the groundwork for democracy, writes Yezid Sayigh. Morsi needs to both challenge the SCAF and forge a working relationship with any new parliament in order to consolidate meaningful civilian authority. Publisher: Carnegie Middle East Center Author: Yezid Sayigh.