The US State Department has said it expects the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to stay committed to handing over power to a civilian government in accordance with the road map it has put in place. It also called on winners in the election to respond to the aspirations of the nation, lead the country in a democratic way, and keep peace with neighboring countries. US Defense Ministry spokesperson Victoria Nuland said she expects the leadership in Egypt to establish a democracy, as the Egyptian people expect it to do. She added that the US seeks a peaceful and democratic transfer of power as soon as possible. Asked if the US prefers a military government to keep the peace treaty with Israel, Nuland said: “Well, first of all, we've only had one round of three rounds of these elections. Second, you know what we've said repeatedly, and I'll say it again here: We're not going to judge these parties or these political actors by the names they call themselves. We're going to judge them by how they behave.” “And what they need to do to respond to the aspirations of their own people is to have a – first of all, clean, fair, open elections, to compete in them, and then to come to government and lead Egypt in a way that is democratic, transparent, open, conforms with human rights, protects the rights of all minorities in Egypt, protects tolerance, protects pluralism, protects women. So we will judge them on their meeting these high human rights standards, not by what they call themselves,” she added. Nuland emphasized that the US wants Egypt to maintain peace with its neighbors and that Washington will use this as a criterion for assessing its relations with any country. Asked about a US congress bill that may impose conditions on foreign aid given to Egypt, Nuland said: “Our position on this has not changed. We do not think that conditionality will be helpful. We think there will be a backlash from exactly those people we're trying to help, which are those Egyptian citizens who are seeking a democratic future.”
