Counterrevolution in Egypt may be imminent

[The Mikado]

So the Egyptian courts overturned the Parliamentary elections and have ordered Parliament to disband pending a new nonpartisan (meaning bad for Muslim Brotherhood) FPTP election (in a country with sky-high illiteracy, that'll favor local notables, and that means figures that did well under the old government).  Meanwhile, SCAF is going to appoint a "Constituent Assembly" to write the constitution, so it will be written by the interests of the army rather than those of the Muslim Brotherhood.  MB is in a bit of confusion over what to do: Morsy didn't condemn the decision and expressed fondness for the army, while Brothers in Parliament (who risk losing their jobs) are vowing defiance.  Will post more as we find out more.

[The Mikado]

Edit: The part slashed may be wrong. I have no earthly idea, as Egyptian election law is uncomprehensable by man.

You aren't kidding.  Supposedly, they want a new set of elections where half of Parliament would be chosen through FPTP non-partisan races, where obscure local Islamist firebrand can't get name-recognition by running on the Muslim Brotherhood ticket and voters would gravitate to the (old regime) names they know.

[The Mikado]

In a way - and I don't like typing this - this is almost impressive.

Sort of like Algeria '92, but SCAF hasn't completely junked democratic institutions yet. I suspect they and the MB have devised a Pakistani-style plan: military controls foreign/defence policy while MB takes domestic, so long as they don't do anything that would jeopardize Western arms sales.

We won't know until after this weekend, but it might be that SCAF struck a deal with Morsi personally, where Morsi throws the rest of the Muslim Brotherhood under the bus.  The MB in Parliament continue to say they're going to resist this (as well they might: they're losing their jobs here), but Morsi has been positive about the move.

Alternately, Shafiq could win and this whole conversation becomes moot.

[The Mikado]

President Morsi throws down gauntlet, demands the return of Parliament by the 15th.  No SCAF response yet.

[The Mikado]

Morsi's been sworn in and all, right? So what's SCAF still doing? Didn't they handover power at the end of last month?

Shadow government.  The military has run Egypt for 60 years and owns 50% of the country's businesses etc.  They are not about to peacefully submit to being servants after being the masters for so long, esp. to the Brotherhood, whose members they have imprisoned and tortured from the 1950s to near-present.