"L’Egitto tra riforme e offensiva terroristica"

This article offers an analysis of the political situation in Egypt after the constitutional reform of the electoral system introducing the direct election of the Head of State by secret ballot. The re-election of President Mubarak was marked by violence, corruption and malpractice, by a low turnout and by the boycotting of the elections by the main lay opposition groups. None of this, however, seemed to prevent pro-government Western observers from giving a positive appraisal of the election and its results. A similar situation accompanied the parliamentary elections in which the radical Muslim Brothers gained a considerable number of votes becoming the main opposition group in the country despite their lack of official recognition. Today Egypt's progressive and democratic movements are being reduced to silence by growing religious extremism on the one hand and by government oppression on the other hand. Meanwhile the country has been shaken by a series of terroristic attacks.