Muslim Brotherhood likely to take over in Egyptian elections

Cover photo: Protests in Tahrir
 Square (Naicomeno). Story photo:
 Protests go into the night (Ramy Raoof).

Egypt (MNN) ― After days of protests, Egypt's military rulers have not only accepted the cabinet's resignation, but they have even agreed to speed up presidential elections to July 2012, according to BBC News.

Three-month preliminary elections are still scheduled to begin Monday, November 28.

Regardless of these new promises, however, clashes continue. Reports agree that since protests began in Tahrir Square on Saturday, at least 29 have died and several hundred have been injured as the police have fired rubber bullets, tear gas, and more into crowds.

The election conditions agreed upon by the Egyptian military do not seem to have satisfied most protesters. Many protesters fear that even if a new president is elected fairly, the military will not recognize the leader but will instead hold on to power.

If the military is true to their word and a new government is elected, things may not get much better for Egypt though.

Tom Doyle, Middle East-Central Asia Director for E3Partners, warns, "This just plays into kind of the worst scenario with a vacuum of power and the Muslim Brotherhood stepping up and saying, ‘We'll restore order.'"

Doyle says Christians in particular are nervous for what may come. "It's always who's lurking around the corner. Most of the leaders in Egypt seem to think it's going to be Islamic Brotherhood."

At this point, says Doyle, there is no other contender for the Muslim Brotherhood in the coming elections. No other group seems altogether organized or prepared to step in.

"The Christians have never had a real political stand there, haven't had much influence. Then you've got the secular Muslims that were pretty much with Mubarak, and they were thrown out because of the corruption," Doyle explains. "So then you have moderates and radicals. And it just always seems when it's moderates versus radicals, it's the radicals that win."

Opening the door for the Muslim Brotherhood could easily mean hard-line Islamic law in Egypt.

"We've heard talk about Sharia law," notes Doyle. "Islam started in the Arab world, and they do not like that Iran has the platform as the leader of Islam, if you will, today. And they want that back."

The prospect for Egypt's future looks grim. But while bad news gets worse, believers are actually getting bolder. Doyle says if Muslim fundamentalists take over, the church is likely to grow even more.

"When the hard-liners get in, that's when the church flourishes. We certainly don't want to see our brothers and sisters in persecution, but when the difficult government takes over--like in Iran, then the church grows."

Pray that the church would grow whatever happens, and that believers would have the strength for what is to come.