A family buys patriotic ribbons in the colors of the Egyptian flag from a street vendor near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 15, 2011. Egypt's long banned Muslim Brotherhood said it intends to form a political party once democracy is established.
AP Photo

"Egypt's Future Needs a Strong Legislature"

Op-Ed, CNN.com

February 23, 2011

Authors: M. Steven Fish, Matthew Kroenig, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2007–2008

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security

In the past month, we have witnessed a stunning wave of protests that forced Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian strongman, from the presidential mansion.

What comes next? Does Egypt have a shot at lasting democracy, or is it fated to slide from one form of authoritarianism to another?

The answer may depend less on the behavior of the Egyptian military or the Muslim Brotherhood — groups that have generated much concern in the West — than on a factor that has been the subject of much less attention: the strength of Egypt's national legislature.

This week a judicial council is expected to complete a draft of the post-Mubarak constitution in preparation for elections scheduled to be held in September. Its choices about how to distribute power among the branches of government hold the key to Egypt's political future....

Continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/23/fish.kroenig.egypt.legislature/index.html

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/23/fish.kroenig.egypt.legislature/index.html

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