Egypt - No Democracy Yet

The demonstrations in Egypt have accomplished their first goal. Their dictatorial president, Hosni Mubarak, is no longer in power. And his hand-picked vice-president is also gone. But it looks to me like a lot of people have jumped the gun on just what has been accomplished so far in that country. A lot of the headlines on blogs and in some media outlets have proclaimed "freedom" or "democracy" has been won for the Egyptian people.

These people must not be reading the same news accounts that I have. Freedom and democracy may well come to that country, but it is not their yet. They are now being ruled by a military council (which is a nice way to say military dictatorship), and that military council has suspended the constitution (which means there are currently no rights for citizens except those the military wishes to grant). That doesn't sound like democracy or freedom to me.

It is true that the military council says it will rule only for six months and then there will be elections, but this leaves some questions unanswered. What kind of elections? Will the constitution be reinstated, or will a new one be written (and who will write that - the military)? Just how "free" will those elections be? Will only certain candidates be allowed to run?

I'd like to think that the military council will live up to its word and institute a real democracy with free elections, but we've seen the military in other countries make promises that weren't kept (Burma is a prime example). And if the military doesn't keep it promises and the demonstrations resume, it could be a lot bloodier than it was to oust Mubarak (who didn't have control of the military).

I'm not saying that democracy won't come to Egypt. I sincerely hope it will. But its not there yet, and until it is, its not yet a time to celebrate. All we can do is cross our fingers and watch what happens in the next few months.