Military's shadow falls on Egypt election First came the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime. Now comes the end of the generals" rule. That, at least, is the official plan put forward by Egypt's military council, the group of generals who helped push Mr Mubarak aside last year. Once a president is in place, the council is supposed to hand him the keys to power, and step back into the background. Yet even as Egyptians started voting on Wednesday in the country's first democratic presidential election, few were certain of the true intentions of a military that has been the backbone of successive Egyptian regimes. Part of the generals" strategy will depend on who is elected, and the extent to which they can strike a deal that is sellable to the public. No doubt the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which was set up in the wake of the revolution will be relieved to see someone else govern a chaotic country of 80m people, with widespread poverty and a battered economy. A rigid military institution with an autocrat mindset, the army's performance over the past year has been mostly ineffective and at times appalling. Egyptian police are not policing the streets; protests have been repressed; soldiers have stood by while peaceful demonstrators have been attacked by thugs. True, the army as an institution remains widely respected by Egyptians and some concessions to the military would probably not be opposed by a majority of people. But the slogan, "Down, down with military rule," has become the rallying cry of the young revolutionaries who had led the uprising against Mr Mubarak. The generals" relations with the political class, both liberal and Islamist, also have been damaged amid increasing signs that the military is willing to give up governing Egypt but not stop ruling from behind the scenes. People familiar with the military's thinking say the generals are seeking to maintain oversight over Egypt's "direction." "They want a special status - in other words they won't accept civilian rule over the ministry of defence or the ministry of military productions and they want to be the guardians of certain red lines," says one official. These red lines include "matters of war and peace" but also preventing any political current (which means Islamist parties) from "changing the face of the country." Politicians who have had discussions with the generals say that despite repeated denials, the military council is looking to shield the army from prosecution for past corruption and protect the military's economic interests from parliamentary scrutiny. The army runs a vast business empire that politicians and diplomats say accounts for anywhere between 10 and 25 per cent of the economy. The generals have attempted to negotiate their future over the past year but have been rebuffed by the political class at every turn. Politicians were enraged by the vast powers accorded to the army in the so-called Selmi proposals put forward last year by a deputy prime minister who appeared to be acting on behalf of the military council. Over the past week, newspapers reported a planned military declaration specifying the powers of the president and parliament until a new constitution is drafted. The reports, later denied by a ruling council spokesman, said the military budget would not be signed off by parliament. Given the high stakes for the army, politicians have worried about the generals" willingness to hold free and fair presidential elections. Among the five leading contenders out of a field of 12, Ahmed Shafiq, a relic from the former regime and a declared antirevolutionary, is assumed to be the military's favourite candidate. Yet his election could be dangerously divisive, possibly sending young revolutionaries back on to the streets and creating a new headache for the military. The most problematic candidate from the generals" point of view, meanwhile, is Mohamed Morsi, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party. It is the biggest political group in parliament and its relations with the military have steadily deteriorated. Egypt's new president, however, will not be the only negotiator with the army on its future role. Empowered Egyptians are determined to have a say in how they are ruled and would be willing to return to Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolution, if they feel their democratic rights are being usurped.