Split between the military and young activists more pronounced

The split between the military and the young activists seeking democratic reforms is becoming more pronounced. The gloves are off.

The two sides are more openly trading accusations. The fear among the democracy activists is that the military are in essence mounting a counter-revolution in association with former regime elements.

It is still not clear how much vision of the future the military really has and its role in shaping it. Its sudden embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) a partner is an extraordinary change of tack.

For its part, the mainstream MB has refrained from hostile criticism of the military. Not so its youth wing, which released a statement saying: “The military council is not the army but a council with a specific political mandate authorised by the people to run the country in this transitional period. The people have the right to keep it or banish the council."

The trouble is that there is no mechanism yet before elections to determine the will of the people.

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© 2011 Menas Associates