Political parties seeking to compete in the upcoming elections are mushrooming at a blinding speed. No week goes by without a new party being declared "under establishment." Rightist, leftists, religious and secular parties - all pop up on the political scene. Most are built around notorious public personalities with no clear political program, and perhaps all but one, El Adl party, founded by the inner team of presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei, have no communication strategy to speak of. Realistically, most newly formed parties will find it logistically impossible to reach the electorate before the parliamentary elections in which they hope to compete.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Al Ikhwan al Muslimin, historically Egypt's most organized opposition group, was created in 1928 by a young scholar, Hassan El Banna, and steadily garnered a dedicated followership. Since the 1952 coup, the group was legally outlawed but tolerated, its members forming alliances with small parties to field candidates.
An integral part of the January 25th evolution, the Brotherhood found a national acceptance to which it's unaccustomed, from other opposition parties but also the army.
Far from relishing in its bliss, the Brotherhood lives its most confusing hour. It promised not to field presidential candidates in the first post-revolution elections, but nurses dreams of controlling "35 to 40 percent of the parliament's seats" as spokesperson Essam El-Erian casually repeats. This goal may be difficult to achieve. Ten days after the deposition of Mubarak, the MB announced the establishment of the "Freedom and Justice" party to represent the organization, led by members of the MB's Guidance Council. Not everyone agrees with the party's program and its leadership, and an increasing number of members express reticence on towing the line.
After brief hesitation, the Brotherhood made up its mind with regards to democracy and disagreement within the movement: There would be none. The Guidance Council has punished dissenting members and reportedly investigated those who have joined other political parties. Abdel-Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, a leading reformist figure within the organization, was expelled after declaring he planned on running for president. Members of the organization's forward-looking youth wing have also seen their membership terminated after co-founding a new political party, the Egyptian Current. Another two non-Brotherhood parties are emerging, with a more or less radical interpretation of political Islam. This fragmentation of Islamist representation - and one would extrapolate of the Islamist vote - threatens the Muslim Brotherhood's stronghold on this political brand. Other analysts, however, view that a widening political Islam offer on the electoral market could increase the parliamentary presence of this branch of politics.
Meanwhile, many struggle to hold on to the original ideals of the revolution. Juggling to maintain pressure on the ground and fend off occasional attacks from criminals or the police who share eerily similar modi operandi, most are left aside from the political scene.
It's true that a number of revolutionary youth are active in political parties, but almost never in leadership positions. Ad-hoc groups - whose names invariably include some combination of the words "youth," "coalition," "January 25th" and "revolution" - are pullulating, with no real mandate yet speaking on behalf of the revolution nevertheless. The public tolerates a few of these youth groups, in the absence of a coherent representation. Their divergent political ideas - from boycotting the existing government to coordinating with the army - dilutes the youths' power.
The young revolutionaries on the street - the salt of the democratic movement - are cast aside from the political development of the country, held hostage by an undemocratic Army Supreme Council, a caretaking government with populist tendencies and opportunist political parties with token youth representation. The revolutionary youth are aware of this -yet disorganized and knee-deep in what can only be qualified as the day-to-day protection of their revolution. Meanwhile, the political process goes on without them. The young revolutionaries, hailed in the beginning of every political speech but thereafter disregarded, must find a way to participate in the electoral political process - and fast.
