In Egypt, back to square one

The Muslim Brotherhood leadership announced on Tuesday that they are not interested in clashing with the Egyptian army. Such statements did not prevent the Brotherhood, however, from protesting against the way in which the army has already removed all content from the authority of Mohammed Morsi, the apparent new president elect. Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, so as a result, the organization sent hundreds of thousands of demonstrators back to Tahrir Square to protest the army's actions.

Meanwhile, officials in the other candidate's office, former President Hosni Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, are insisting that their candidate won the election and called on supporters to celebrate. Only they forgot that Tahrir Square was already occupied by those celebrating the Morsi victory.

By the way, just as was the case at the start of the revolution, the Islamists arrived at a square already occupied by rebellious young liberals, the so-called Tahrir Youth. The youth also organized themselves for a demonstration in Tahrir Square, to protest against their revolution being stolen. These young people are livid that the elections left them voting between the two worst options - the army or Islam.

Confused? No surprise. Before Tuesday, we knew that Egypt had two heads: the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Muslim Brotherhood. Now we discover that it also has two presidents - Morsi and Shafiq. Luckily, on Thursday, the official results of the election will published. At least that will leave us with only one president, and only half of our confusion.

The army, you will remember, took control of the country the day after Mubarak resigned. The SCAF became the top authority responsible for the democratic process. The moment the Muslim Brotherhood took control of all the state institutions, such as Parliament, the Constitutional Committee and, it seems, the presidency, the army decided to turn the wheels back and preserve all of its authority. In Egypt, people are out to protest their apparent return to square one.

But there is a difference. Egypt today is not the same as Egypt one year ago. The Muslim Brotherhood today will not easily give up the achievements it has garnered over the past year, just as the army will not give up on its achievements of the past few decades. The struggle between the two sides will be long and stubborn.

In the short term, the army has the advantage. But only in the short term. Only the Tahrir Youth have nothing else to give up. They ousted Mubarak and, until Thursday, got two presidents. Now that is democracy!

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