Mubarak’s resignation from office was followed shortly by an announcement from SCAF that it would be lifting the country’s emergency laws. Though the SCAF has attempted to democratize Egypt, its actions — as well as the very nature of this executory body — can be said to resemble the old dictatorial regime.

Having protected protestors during the revolution, the SCAF was met with general support from the Egyptian population. The Egyptian government met with opposition leaders, including leaders of the MB, to discuss potential changes to the constitution. The MB, previously banned from Egypt, is the oldest and largest Islamic political group in the world. Additionally, SCAF announced that it had formed a committee of judges and politicians to oversee amending the Egyptian constitution prior to holding a public referendum on the proposed changes. Among the proposed changes was an eight year term limit on the presidency. On March 19, 2011, an overwhelming majority of citizens in Egypt voted in favor of the proposed constitutional amendments.

JURIST Hotline Guest Columnist Gary C. Gambill argued in March 2011 that the military’s privileged status is a detriment to democracy for lack of legislative and judicial checks:

Under this system, the military needs only the cooperation of this one civilian officeholder to rule from the shadows. While most who played leading roles in the “January 25 Revolution” believe that the constitutional powers of the presidency must be drastically scaled back or abolished altogether in favor of a parliamentary system, the transition process mandated by the Supreme Military Council (SMC) is structured to preserve them.

On March 30, 2011, confirming concerns about SCAF’s broad executive powers, SCAF introduced an interim constitution which vested the military council with presidential powers, including the ability to introduce legislation, veto existing laws and act as Egypt’s representative in the international community.

The country’s High Administrative Court dissolved the NDP — a decision that political analysts called an important step in the building of a multi-party system. Additionally, Egypt officially declared the MB a legal political organization, and an Egyptian elections commission approved the formation of the MB’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) after an Egyptian court overturned a ban that prohibited the formation of Islamic-based political party. However, the MB’s traditional slogan, “Islam is the solution,” was banned under the new electoral guidelines.

Despite advances toward competitive elections, the Egyptian population grew discontented over the SCAF’s delay in ending Egypt’s emergency laws despite earlier promises. As protests continued, the interim government finally announced in August 2011 that it would take steps to end the laws, adding that it had not utilized any of its “emergency” powers. In September 2011, however, protesters attacked the Isreali Embassy in Egypt, prompting the government to reinstate and expand the scope of the emergency laws. The emergency laws eventually expired on May 31, 2012.

On November 18, 2011, frustrations with the SCAF resulted in a protest of nearly 50,000 people decrying the military’s continued rule over the nation in Tahrir Square. The protest, led by the MB, was met with a violent clash with the police. In response, the SCAF apologized and called for an end to violence, reiterating that demonstrations are a protected right.

JURIST Forum Guest Columnist Chibli Mallat echoed the idea that SCAF’s power ran contrary to democratization, stating:

If SCAF refuses to relinquish political power and return soldiers to their barracks, things are bound to develop in one of two ways: either like Tiananmen Square, with hundreds of deaths and a repressive rule that only grows worse. Or the revolution prevails and the SCAF leadership ends up in a cell near the dozen top political inmates presently in the Tarra prison. In that case, a lot of people will have also died and the army as an institution might well collapse. This happened in Iran in 1978, and is happening in Syria presently, with incalculable consequences in Egypt and the region.

Egypt’s parliamentary election was held over three stages from late November 2011 to January 2012, with an elaborate voting system apportioning parliamentary seats between political parties and individuals. On February 20, 2012, however, the High Administrative Court of Egypt ruled that the voting system used was unconstitutional, though the election was widely viewed as Egypt’s freest vote in decades.

Following the decision, the Egyptian parliament began a series of intense debates regarding the composition of the constitutional assembly that would be responsible for writing Egypt’s new constitution. On April 10, 2012, Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court suspended Egypt’s constitutional panel, upholding the decision that the panel was formed unconstitutionally. On June 12, 2012, the Egyptian parliament elected another panel of 100 delegates to write a new constitution for the country.

On April 24, 2012, the SCAF approved a law drafted by the Egyptian Parliament that prevented anyone who held a rank of party leader or higher during the Mubarak regime from running for president for 10 years, adding uncertainty to the democratic elections. However, the law could not block candidates retroactively. On May 28, 2012, the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) of Egypt announced the presidential election results, declaring that there would be a run-off election between the top two candidates, MB candidate Mohamed Morsi and former Mubarak administration Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik. Morsi won the run-off election by a difference of only 250,000 votes and was sworn in as president on June 30, 2012. President Morsi is Egypt’s first freely elected president and the country’s first Islamic president.

The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt dissolved the Egyptian parliament on June 14, 2012, after finding that one-third of its members was elected illegally. Despite the court’s ruling, President Morsi issued a decree to reconvene parliament. In response to the decree, the Supreme Constitutional Court issued a televised statement declaring that its decision on the parliament was final and not subject to appeal, preventing the parliament from reconvening. The day before dissolving the country’s parliament, the Supreme Constitutional Court broadened the powers of the military, restoring the power to arrest citizens for non-military offenses. Despite the success of the peaceful election of President Morsi, Egypt faces numerous hurdles before it achieves a stable democracy.