The Egyptian Presidential Election in March Raises Concerns about the Future of Egypt’s Democracy and about the Church’s Decisions about Its Loyalties

By Mike Kuhn

News

The Egyptian Presidential election will take place this month (26-28 Mar 2018) and Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, the incumbent, though not the only candidate on the ballot, is the presumed winner. Unfortunately, other candidates have not fared well.

Former army chief of staff Sami Anan was arrested on 23 January, taken from his car by armed police. He is the fourth potential candidate to be arrested after announcing plans to oppose President al-Sisi in the elections. Mr. Anan was criticized in a public statement of the army for presenting his candidacy without obtaining formal permission from the military.

Ahmed Shafik, former Prime Minister, announced his candidacy in December 2017 after returning from several years in the UAE. He was met by Egyptian Security members upon his arrival in Egypt and promptly disappeared from public view. He reappeared days later to announce his withdrawal from the election.

Human rights lawyer Khaled Ali was arrested and charged with public indecency, a conviction that would disqualify him as a candidate.

Muhammad Sadat, nephew of the assassinated Egyptian President, also withdrew, citing the climate of fear and intimidation that surrounds this election. He opined that “there’s no political life any more. It is dead.”

Analysis

Egypt has lived through two convulsing revolutions. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected president Muhammad Morsi after a military coup in July 2013. Al-Sisi’s reputation for quashing political opponents is becoming reminiscent of the Mubarak era which led to Egypt’s original revolution of January 2011.

John McCain, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, has criticized al-Sisi for his “unprecedented crackdown on political activism and fundamental human rights [that] has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissidents, including 19 American citizens and nearly 3,500 young people.” The regime is criticized by human rights advocates for its suppression of freedom of expression and draconian laws governing NGOs.

In the afterglow of Egypt’s inspiring revolutions, one must now ask the question if Egypt’s progress towards a civil and free society has come full circle. Is Egypt back in roughly the same situation that prevailed in the Mubarak era—a military strongman keeping the country in submission by suppressing anything that threatens his authoritarian regime? What complicates matters is that the president has shown good will towards Egyptian Christians (See Feb IMES brief). While this is commendable, Christians must now objectively evaluate if their country is moving towards a just society or further away.

Reflections and Recommendations

Egyptians were burned in their first revolution when a democratic election brought the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Muhammad Morsi, to power. There appears to be a prevailing fear that, if given a free and fair choice, Egypt’s Muslim majority would tip the balance towards an authoritarian religious expression of government.

However, the Egyptian experiment demonstrates that it is not only Islamic regimes that are capable of tyranny. A regime can demonstrate favor towards a Christian minority and yet oppress others as it clings tenaciously to power.

The reality is that al-Sisi’s rule is not threatened by any of the candidates mentioned above nor are these candidates hard-line Islamists. Many have critical concerns that are not being addressed by the current regime. The outside observer finds it hard not to conclude that the al-Sisi regime (or perhaps those whose interest it is to preserve its power) feels threatened by opposition and divergence of opinion.

In such an atmosphere should Egyptian Christians merely give thanks for their protection and thereby propagate the regime’s injustices?

Some commentators think that when Jesus told his followers not to throw their pearls before swine lest they trample them and then turn on their owners (Mt. 7:6-11), he was likely not talking about a mere case of giving what is valuable to irresponsible people. Jesus is using veiled language to warn his Jewish contemporaries that their cozy relationship to Roman Gentile authorities will end in disaster. The pearls, in this case, are the temple worship and the law of God. “Pigs” commonly referred to Gentiles and here the intention could be the Romans themselves. Putting the interests of their faith in the “safe-keeping” of the Roman authorities would issue in their demise. This came to pass as the Romans put down the Jewish insurrection and destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in the events around 70AD.

The church’s desired end must not be a cozy canopy of favor from the ruling authorities, nor a self-serving quasi-democracy, but a just society where even the dissident minorities are respected and valued on equal footing with all. Anything less will find itself trampled under the hoofs. Now is the time for Egyptian Christians to raise their voices prophetically before their nation drifts further towards tyranny and injustice.