Military Flexes Its Muscles as Islamists Gain in Egypt

[Gerald]

In Cairo last month, soldiers guarded a polling place before it opened to voters. Islamists have taken a big lead so far, prompting military rulers to act.

CAIRO — Egypt’s military rulers said Wednesday that they would control the process of writing a constitution and maintain authority over the interim government to check the power of Islamists who have taken a commanding lead in parliamentary elections. In an unusual briefing evidently aimed at Washington, Gen. Mukhtar al-Mulla of the ruling council asserted that the initial results of elections for the People’s Assembly do not represent the full Egyptian public, in part because well-organized factions of Islamists were dominating the voting. The comments, to foreign reporters and not the Egyptian public, may have been intended to persuade Washington to back off its call for civilian rule. “So whatever the majority in the People’s Assembly, they are very welcome, because they won’t have the ability to impose anything that the people don’t want,” General Mulla said, explaining that the makeup of Parliament will not matter because it will not have power over the constitution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/wo...html?ref=world

Note: December 7, 2011