As Egypt votes, eyes on the presidency (VIDEO)
Egypt's parliamentary election began today, but the real prize is the presidency. Top candidate Amr Moussa recently offered his vision for Egypt in an interview.
Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa (c.), waits outside a polling station before voting on the first day of parliamentary elections in Cairo, Monday.
Hossam Ali/AP
Cambridge, Mass.
Egypt's parliamentary elections began today in a mood of relative calm and optimism. Turnout was high, despite the fact that more than 40 democracy protesters had been killed in the past week. While there's still much that could go wrong in a multi-stage parliamentary election that will stretch into next year, the start was about as good as could have reasonably been hoped for.
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But it's worth remembering that the parliament, when it sits some time in the new year, will have limited power. Egypt currently has a highly centralized presidential system, and the parliament won't have the ability to appoint a government. That power lies with the presidency, currently held by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
SCAF's continuing power was the driver of the protests ahead of the election, but it also means it will retain significant influence over the next parliament, which is supposed to supervise the writing of a new Constitution. In response to the protests last week, the military promised to hold presidential elections by July of next year.
SPECIAL REPORT: Egypt's revolution, Part 2: Now to build a nation.
If that promise is kept and those elections are fair, it will be the beginning of the military's withdrawal from direct politics and the winner will have a lot of influence on what comes next in Egypt.
Amr Moussa is hoping he'll be the winner. A decade ago, as Egypt’s foreign minister, he became too popular for then-President Hosni Mubarak’s liking – there was even an Egyptian pop hit titled, “I hate Israel and I love Amr Moussa.” So he was shuffled off to run the Arab League.
Now Mr. Moussa is back, leading early polls to be Egypt’s next president. An urbane Arab nationalist who joined the Egyptian foreign service in 1958, he’s the polar opposite of the youth activists that drove the Egyptian uprising. But his name recognition, political experience, and reputation among many as independent of Mr. Mubarak make him a formidable contender to lead Egypt – if the military gets out of the way.
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