Shades of dictators.

The standoff between the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is getting more interesting by the day. Mohamed Morsi was elected President on 30 June but before he could be sworn in the Supreme Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land, declared 30% of seats in the People's Assembly, which is the lower house of the Parliament, invalid. The army promptly dissolved Parliament and said fresh elections will need to be held after a new constitution is written. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been in power since the fall of Mubarak, also gave special powers to itself which must be guaranteed in the constitution. Without a Parliament to pass laws Morsi becomes toothless so in a challenge to the army he recalled Parliament couple of days ago. The Parliament did meet but only for 5 minutes, deciding on challenging its dissolution in court before adjourning. Yesterday the Constitutional Court ruled that its previous order stands and Parliament cannot meet. Opponents of Morsi, who is from the Muslim Brotherhood, say that he was trying for a constitutional coup and that his action amounts to contempt of court but the Speaker, Saad Al-Katatni said that Morsi has not violated court order. Muslim Brotherhood, as the name suggests, stands for a pan Islamic Caliphate stretching from Spain to Indonesia. This should be music to rulers of the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia which runs on a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The King is referred to as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques signifying his control over Makkah and Medina. While using religion as a means for holding on to power the royal family does not allow any imam from becoming too popular or powerful so they will be immensely suspicious of the Brotherhood, given its history of violence. It tried to assassinate Hafez Al Assad of Syria in 1982 in Mali, following which Assad reacted by attacking Hama in which some 10-40,000 people were killed. Anwar El Sadat, President of Egypt, was assassinated on 6 October 1981 by Islamic Jihad in a plot with Al Gamaa al-Islamiyya, an offshoot of the Brotherhood. Already people are coming to the Presidential palace in Cairo and leaving notes with requests for help just as you see on TV in Saudi Arabia. There the King holds audiences for ordinary people who approach the King one by one, kiss him on the shoulder in a mark of respect and hand him a little note which is passed onto assistants standing behind. So would Morsi like to have the powers of a king and become a supreme leader backed by the Brotherhood or would he like to become a passive dictator backed by the army with plenty of pomp and ceremony but without true power like Zardari of Pakistan. The middle east is poised to explode. It will be fun to watch as long as the explosion stays there.