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June 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda More than 50 million people are eligible to vote in the election.
Many Egyptians fear that Shafiq is the undeclared candidate of the junta and that the military-appointed election committee overseeing the election will rig the vote in favor of Shafiq.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Roula Talj, political analyst, to hear her opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: I would like to talk to you if I may about the regional implications of these Egyptian elections. And I like to start off with Israel if I may because that is a very contentious issue obviously for the Egyptians; you know the peace deal etc.
I like to get your opinion on how Israel must be feeling at this point and what kind of behind the scenes deals the Israeli regime maybe trying to put in place with the likes of the SCAF?
Talj: Well Israel is not only concerned by Egypt. Of course Egypt is one of the biggest countries bordering Israel but it is also watching carefully what is happening in the entire region especially in Syria. There is no doubt Israelis are concerned about the national security and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi movements throughout the region.
So it is important to highlight here that the candidates in Egypt they are both getting support, Ahmed Shafiq is getting support of the Saudis and the Americans and it is known that traditionally the Americans are always supporting the military apparatus in Egypt and this has not changed since the revolution whereas Mohammed Morsi is supported by the Qataris.
And it is important to ask a question here whether there is a real split between the Saudis and Qataris and the Americans, is it for real or is it only the aspects and roles in order to have leverage over the candidate, whomever it is.
Press TV: I am glad you mentioned the Saudi factor in all of this. You know the Saudis have always, have obviously from day one of the Arab Spring throughout the region have not been very happy about the Arab Spring and even when the US came out in support of certain revolutions in the region even then they were not very happy.
How do you feel the Saudis, you have spoken about their support for the likes of Ahmed Shafiq, but do you believe that they are happy with this entire process to begin with?
Talj: Well the Saudis were very pragmatic about it for the time being and the Bahraini example had them understand that there will be a support for the [Persian] Gulf countries as long as they are leading an anti-Shia campaign in the region.
They were not happy with the Egyptian revolution because Hosni Mubarak was one of their allies. However they are happy with what is happening in Syria and they are not only endorsing the revolution but they are sending weapons to fighters and they are sending Salafi fighters to Syria and sometimes to Lebanon.
So they are a bit schizophrenic when it comes to revolutions and the end result of it but it is important to understand here that since the revolution started Saudi Arabia and Qatar they were both leading an anti-Shia and anti-Iranian campaign in the region and even the real meaning of the revolution in Egypt, why is this revolution supported by Saudi regime or Qataris?
They are one good example of real dictatorship when it comes to their own people. So their support to the revolution means nothing because they are themselves the worst dictators in the region.
But it is important to know regarding Israel as you asked me, I think the Islamic Brotherhood supported by Qatar or any other regional power would only obey by the Wahhabi agenda both the Saudis and the Qataris and as we know both countries will support and endorse anything that comes out of Washington.
So if I were, God forbid, an Israeli I would not be worried about the Islamic Brotherhood because we will discover soon enough that anyway they are just going to be another puppet of the Americans in the region.
Press TV: I find it very interesting that you said, you spoke about the Muslim Brotherhood Mrs. Talj because I wanted to ask you about that as well. Muslim Brotherhood’s role from day one has been a little bit confusing because when the revolution occurred it essentially stood by the military while the military started acting out and people started to get suspicious about the military’s intentions as far as the Egyptian revolution went. Do you believe that in essence in a sense that they are already sold out even before this runoff elections have ended?
Talj: One thing I could say about the Muslim Brotherhood and that is why I do not think that they are not going to win the elections today, I truly believe that Ahmed Shafiq is going to be the next president in Egypt.
However, few of the mistakes made by the Muslim Brotherhood, they showed huge appetite too early on, you know like they showed this eagerness to impose their will and rules over a hundred million Egyptians too fast.
They did not give assurances to at least ten million Copts in Egypt. They did not give assurances to those who were close to the Mubarak regime and they are too many.
So they have showed huge appetite to take a grip and control every aspect of the Egyptian life. They had spoken very early on about the rules they are going to impose in Egypt on a social level.
For example they have declared their plan to limit art and to make it only religious art in a country that is known as the Hollywood of the Middle East. Can you imagine the effect that this has on at least hundreds of thousands of people living out of this industry in Egypt?
So they have alienated so many aspects of the society in Egypt. I am happy about that because in a way people were discovered very early on that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is not as clear or as honest as they wanted themselves to be portrayed during the Mubarak’s times.
Press TV: Ms. Talj I want to speak to you again, continue with the steam of the regional countries and their influence upon these elections. Omar Suleiman even travelled to the UAE, I believe it was a while back that he travelled to the UAE but you know such travels that ex-Mubarak officials have been having, does that in a sense prove that with so many hands in a sense in the Egyptian pot that these elections are already doomed in a sense that their legitimacy is doomed, that the future of Egypt is doomed unless there is some sort of a second revolution?
Talj: Of course there are too many players in Egypt and too many interests at stake over there. I do not know the nature of the visit of Mr. Suleiman to the UAE or the influence the UAE might have in Egypt.
However it is very important to know that of course the will of the people will prevail at some point and at the end of the day those who are going to vote for Shafiq are not voting, I call them negative votes. It means that they are not voting for Shafiq personally but they are voting against the Muslim Brotherhood for the many reasons I talked about earlier in the interview.
When it comes to Saudi and Qatari the only thing they can do is send money to push one way or another. Today the money does not help anymore because those who are going to vote have made their mind already and it is enough to wait till the end of the day and we will understand which regional power is going to have leverage over the new president in Egypt.
Press TV: Also I want to talk about the US factor in all this. Of course you touched upon that earlier on as well but the United States at the beginning of the revolution when it began, before Mubarak step down was very wary of the revolution itself and much later on it then supported the revolution and that too just in a sense. What do you believe the US role is at present in Egypt?
Talj: I am convinced that there are two US– the US of the neoconservatives who planted the seeds of what they call the Arab Spring. This, the neoconservatives had a lot of money. They have invested in many countries in the region in order to stir the pot and push towards a revolution.
And there is the new Obama administration which is dealing with internal crisis and trying to avoid disasters when it comes to the region meaning they are trying to keep a grip over what they had, like over the power they had in the region and of course Hosni Mubarak was one of their main allies in the region and he did whatever America wanted as long as he stayed in power.
So the neoconservative America I am pretty sure they were somehow helping and pushing towards the revolutions in the region and of course this plan wanted the revolution to go into this what Condoleezza Rice used to talk about, the creative mess, let’s put it this way.
So this creative mess we are going through it today but the players in the region have changed ever since Bush left power, we see the rise of Russia and China and their will to fight very hard in order to gain some power in the region.
AHK/PKH
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