The council has said it will transfer power to a future new government by June 30. If observers are right and there comes a second round of voting, maintaining social stability will be a big challenge between the two rounds of voting, said Liu. He stressed, "The military will not give up power before the final result of the election is released. It has the responsibility to protect social stability before the new government is formed."

Moreover, if the president comes from the second round of voting, which will be held on June 16-17, there will not be much time for the new government to be ready to take over power. Liu said if the military transfers power to the new government as scheduled, it will be a pro forma power transfer. "No matter who is elected president, he will not be able to realize social stability without the military's cooperation and support," he said.

Even after power is transferred to the new government, the military will play a special role in Egypt. "It will no longer administrate the chores, but it will have a weighty role when big events occur," Li said. Initially there might be some disputes and conflicts between the new government and the military, he predicted.

Future tasks

Egypt's turbulence happened because of the social problems caused by the lousy economy. The priority of the new government will therefore be economic development based on social stability. Although the new government will have a democratic form, it will take a long time to have democratic content.

"The presidential election result will be only a temporary achievement," said Li. He explained that social stability and economic development are what Egyptians want.

If the power reallocation can satisfy different political forces, the country can gain social stability. Then more foreign investors and tourists will come to Egypt and bring more job opportunities. Li said confidence is the crucial element to the country's economic revival.

Liu said the new government will face two challenges: the reallocation of power and chronic economic problems. About 60 to 70 percent of Egyptians are poor, so they turn to social reform. "If the situation deteriorates because of conflicts between different political forces, their livelihoods will be worse," Liu said.

Liu said to realize economic development, foreign assistance will be inevitable for a long time. The West will certainly offer some help, but considering Europe's own debt crisis, the United States will be more dependable. Liu added that the new government will also seek assistance from the nations in the Gulf area and China.

China and Egypt had a good trade and economic relationship, and China had many projects in Egypt before the turbulence erupted in 2011. It is probable that China and Egypt will develop their traditional economic cooperation to a new level, said Liu.

Many Western countries hope Egypt can step onto the Western-standard democratic track. But observers are conservative about this.

Li said there is still a long time to go before the democratic framework is filled with democratic content. First of all, the military will retain its influence on the country's political life, which does not happen in Western societies. Also, the media in Egypt will not be as independent as Western media.

Liu said there will never be a Western-standard democracy in Egypt. If there is democracy, it will be an Islamic-style democracy. "National independence is a tendency in today's Egypt. Whoever becomes the future Egyptian president, he will keep a distance from the United States and Israel. This will be the biggest difference from the Mubarak era," Liu stressed.

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