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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Jun-2012
18-Jun-12 World View -- Elections in Greece, Egypt and France bring major changes

Web Log - June, 2012

18-Jun-12 World View -- Elections in Greece, Egypt and France bring major changes

Egypt's Bedouin tribesmen break with Muslim Brotherhood

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Greece's conservative party wins election inconclusively
Military takes power in Egypt, as voters boycott election
Egypt's Bedouin tribesmen break with Muslim Brotherhood
France's Socialist President Hollande's party wins big legislative victory

Greece's conservative party wins election inconclusively

Antonis Samaras after his election win. (AP)

Antonis Samaras after his election win. (AP)

Europeans breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday. Greece's voters, as anxious and divided as ever, on Sunday, as they gave a plurality of votes to the right of center New Democracy party, led by Antonis Samaras, with about 30% of the vote. However, trailing very close behind was the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), led by Alexis Tsipras, with 27% of the vote. Samaras's party will not have a majority in the legislature, so he'll have to form a governing coalition, which will be a problem. But just as significant is the fact that Samaras himself promised to renegotiate the austerity terms of the Greek bailout, though not as forcefully as Tsipras, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated clearly that no renogotiation is possible. And as we've pointed out repeatedly, even in the best of circumstances, Greece will need another bailout within a couple of months or so. Kathimerini

Military takes power in Egypt, as voters boycott election

Estimates are that turnout was only 15% of eligible voters in Sunday's presidential elections in Egypt, as voters showed their outrage at the choice of candidates -- Ahmed Shafiq, a military figure appointed by deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. Official results will be announced in a few days, but it's not clear that it will make any difference. On Sunday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement that they are taking control of the legistation and the budget, and that they will appoint the people who will draft a new constitution. There's a lot of despair in Egypt that goes well beyond their economic problems -- Mubarak's military dictatorship enforcers are back in charge, as if the "Arab Spring" had never happened. Al-Ahram (Cairo)

Egypt's Bedouin tribesmen break with Muslim Brotherhood

The Islamist parties -- the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist al-Nour party -- together claimed 75% of the seats in January's parliamentary elections in Egypt. This made the Bedouins, who live in the tribal lands of western Egypt, wearing long dresses, turbans, and sunburned complexions, very happy, because the Brotherhood politicians had promised to respect the Bedouins, unlike Mubarak. But in the five months that have passed until last week, when Egypt's Supreme Constitution Court dissolved the Parliament, Bedouins have become disillusioned with the Brotherhood who, they say, performed "shamefully" as parliamentarians:

"The Muslim Brotherhood wants to impose their ideology on tribal customs and traditions that ruled this part of the world for hundreds of years. They want to invade this community and erase our tribal character."

Thus, many Bedouins have switched allegiance, and supported Mubarak's crony, Ahmed Shafiq, in Sunday's presidential elections. McClatchy

France's Socialist President Hollande's party wins big legislative victory

France's parliamentary elections on Sunday gave Socialist Party president François Hollande a big victory. In combination with his ally, the communist Left Front party, Hollande has a free hand to implement his socialist agenda, which he claims will bring economic growth to France. Hollande has already lowered the retirement age from 62 to 60, and he's promised to increase public spending, with additional expenditures for the state school system, and fund the expenditures by raising taxes on France's highest earners. France 24

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 18-Jun-12 World View -- Elections in Greece, Egypt and France bring major changes thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (18-Jun-2012) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Jun-2012 18-Jun-12 World View -- Elections in Greece, Egypt and France bring major changes

Greece's conservative party wins election inconclusively

Military takes power in Egypt, as voters boycott election

Egypt's Bedouin tribesmen break with Muslim Brotherhood

France's Socialist President Hollande's party wins big legislative victory

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Jun-2012
18-Jun-12 World View -- Elections in Greece, Egypt and France bring major changes