A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, June 18, 2012

SCAF Tries to Reassure: It's Just Separation of Powers

General Muhammad al-Assar, a member of SCAF and, as it happens, the Ministry of Defense's liaison with the United States, said the following at a press conference: ""We'll never tire or be bored from assuring everyone that we will hand over power before the end of June."

How does that square with the new constitutional declaration whereby SCAF holds legislative power and controls the writing of the new constitution?  Is it qualified by "within certain limited meanings of 'hand over power,'" or is the key that "we'll never tire of assuring you," rather than "we'll actually do it."?

SCAF has a long history of saying or doing something and then explaining that they never intended what they just said or did.

They're saying they're just preserving the separation of powers between the President and Parliament. Really? (I might say, "what separation of powers?" since it hasn't really existed before.) Maybe so, but they asserted their powers in such a heavy-handed way it's hard to read other than that SCAF will be calling the shots.

No comments: