Eurasia’s Ian Bremmer thinks so, saying SCAF’s challenge is to rig the appearance of a civilian government just right :
Today, the main difference with Pakistan’s military is that Egypt’s is now seen as responsible for the day-to-day functioning of governance. The generals will once again go for the Goldilocks approach to forming a civilian government, one that is not too strong but not too weak. It has to be resolute enough to earn a reputation for competence (this is where Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood fell short), but docile enough to not sideline the military or curb its privileges. Most importantly, the new government needs to seem sufficiently independent to take flak and “own” the blame for any economic woes. The last thing the military wants is for the next wave of protestors to aim their anger at the army.
Can the military pull this off? Can it empower a government that earns enough public confidence to restore stability to the country and allows the military to distance itself from economic management and domestic politics?
Unfortunately the army and the whole of the military apparatus is proving daily that they are the real power brokers in Egypt. The government is only a camouflage. If this present government will not be able to deliver then the military will surely jump in and make another attempt at saving the country. That way, it will continue to regard themselves as the continual saviours of a political system that can’t actually deliver because of the decades of corruption that probably needs years to be put right. The tag mark is the army and the military who will continue to project themselves as sources of stability