The Popular Uprising in Egypt in Search of a Leadership

Introduction

Thanks to the possibilities afforded by modern communications and internet technology, the Egyptian youth managed to stage mass demonstrations and force Hosni Mubarak to abdicate power without first forming a solid leadership to steer their campaign and present their demands. Hence, the Egyptian protest movement is currently in search of a leadership that will preserve the achievements of the uprising and champion the cause of reform.

Since the start of the protests, on January 25, 2011, several groups have emerged that claim to represent the protesters. Some are made up of public figures of the old guard, such as the Committee of the Wise, which met with vice president 'Omar Suleiman before Mubarak's resignation to state its demands. Other groups, such as the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, comprising members of Egypt's popular opposition movements and young internet activists, are gaining momentum. These movements, identified with Egypt's younger generation, refused to be represented by the existing parties or to parley with vice president Suleiman prior to Mubarak's resignation; following his resignation they took their demands to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Since the dissolution of the parliament, numerous movements and political streams have taken steps towards forming political parties.

This report is an overview of the main groups and organizations emerging as representatives of the Egyptian public.

The Committee of the Wise

This group comprises Egyptian politicians, intellectuals, and artists representing a broad spectrum of political affiliation, whose representatives met on February 5, 2011 with vice president Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq.[1] The Committee issued three communiqués detailing its demands, which included: dissolving the two houses of parliament and forming a judiciary committee to draft constitutional changes (this demand was met by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on February 13); establishing a transitional government composed of independent figures and experts acceptable to the people; lifting the state of emergency and prosecuting the officials responsible for the security anarchy during the protests; and ensuring the protesters' safety and ending all acts of brutality against them. The Committee of the Wise praised the army and pointed to it as the key element that will ensure a smooth transition to democracy.[2]

Among the prominent signatories to the Committee's communiqués were Arab League Secretary-General 'Amr Moussa (who is one of the potential candidates for the presidency)[3]; Egyptian-American scientist Ahmad Zewail, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, who is serving as President Barack Obama's special envoy for science and technology to the Middle East; Kamal Abu Al-Magd, former vice-president of
the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights; Coptic businessman Naguib Sawiris; Wahid 'Abd Al-Magid, director of the Al-Ahram Center for Translation and Publishing; Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian ambassador to Washington and Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the American
University in Cairo; Salama Ahmad Salama, head of the editorial board of the independent Egyptian daily Al-Shurouq and former deputy editor of the government daily Al-Ahram; and Sami Mahmoud Zein Al-Din, chairman of the Cairo Criminal Court.[4]

Image Source: The Committee's Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ljnt-alhkma/12389600101717

Some raised doubts as to where the Committee's loyalties lay. 'Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan, editor of the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, warned that it was trying to rescue Mubarak, rather than Egypt, explaining that many of the Committee's members had formerly served the regime.[5] It should be noted that the Committee has not been heard from since Mubarak handed over power to the military, and its stance on the changes that have thus far been implemented, such as the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of parliament, remains unclear.

The Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution (aka "The January 25 Youth")

This group, also called "The Coalition of the Revolution of Rage" or "The January 25 Youth," is a coalition of several popular movements: the April 6 Movement, the socialist Al-Tagdid movement, Shabab Al-Ikhwan (the Muslim Brotherhood Youth), Youth for Justice and Freedom (an organization founded in July 2010 to combat corruption in the Egyptian regime), the Free Front for Peaceful Change, and the Democratic Front Party. The coalition also represents young people who participated in the protests but are not members of any organized group, as well as internet activists. Its leaders, ten young men who were among the organizers of the recent protests, claim that the groups and organizations formed before the coalition have ignored the young people who actually led the demonstrations.^[6]

The Coalition decided to form a committee of 20 leading figures, including prominent intellectuals and oppositionists such as Muslim thinker Muhammad Salim Al-Awa, Al-Ghad party head Ayman Nour (who ran against Mubarak in the 2005 elections and was imprisoned on charges of election fraud), Democratic Front party leader Osama Al-Ghazali Harb, and Muslim Brotherhood leaders 'Abd Al-Mun'im Abu Al-Fatouh and Muhammad Al-Baltagi.^[7] According to some media reports, this Coalition also represents the Popular Campaign for Supporting ElBaradei, and Mohamed ElBaradei is one of the members of its proposed committee of experts. However, the coordinator of the ElBaradei Campaign, Mustafa Al-Naggar, has denied this."^[8]

Among the demands of the Coalition are to limit the military rule to no more than nine months; make temporary amendments to the constitution pending the People's Assembly elections, and subsequently draw up a "popular and democratic" constitution as a basis for the parliamentary republic, which will provide for the separation of the branches of government, limit the president's powers, and abolish the Emergency Law and emergency courts. Further demands are to establish an interim government of professionals who enjoy the people's trust and are not affiliated with the army; lower the age at which citizens are eligible to run for parliament and for the presidency (to 25 in the former case and 35 in the latter); allow the free establishment of associations, unions, newspapers, and media outlets; pass laws regulating the election of trade unions and student unions; release all political prisoners; dissolve the NDP and nationalize its assets; dissolve the State Security Investigations apparatus; implement court
orders that ban police guards from university campuses; stop the export of natural gas to Israel; revoke the Political Parties Law; and dissolve all the local councils.[9]

Some prominent young activists in the Coalition are Ziad Al-'Alimi, who acts as a spokesman for the Coalition and was one of the prominent organizers of the protest movement; Ahmad Maher (30), a civil engineer who serves as coordinator of the April 6 Movement and is considered to be the founder of the Facebook group that initiated the general strike in Egypt during the protests; medical doctor Shadi Al-Ghazali Harb, who is related to the head of the Democratic Front party and is an activist in the National Society for Change;[10] and Muhammad 'Awwad (27), the general coordinator of the Youth for Justice and Freedom group and a former activist in the oppositionist Kefaya movement and in the April 6 Movement.[11]

Another prominent young activist in the protest movement is Egyptian blogger Wael Ghoneim, whose thousands of supporters have nominated him spokesman of the protest movement in a Facebook page opened for this purpose.[12] Ghoneim (31), who has a degree in computer engineering from Cairo University and another in business management from the American University in Cairo, works as a marketing manager for Google Middle East and is the founder of a Facebook group called We Are All Khaled Sa'id, which played a key role in organizing the mass demonstrations in Egypt starting January 25. After the protests began he was arrested and held in detention for 12 days.

Image Source: http://www.facebook.com/Authorize.Ghoneim

In interviews he gave after his release, he asked not to be given credit for starting the revolution and not to be called a hero. He called it inconceivable that "parties that cannot fill a sports stadium with their supporters are jumping [on the bandwagon] and sitting down to negotiate on behalf of the protesters." He added that the real leaders of the protesters were Facebook activists, stressing that Muslim Brotherhood members did not comprise more than 15% of the protest movement.[13] For now, Ghoneim has decided to join the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution.[14] On February 13, Ghoneim met with the army leadership to present the demands of the youth and hear the army's position.[15]

In his dialogue with the opposition representatives, 'Omar Suleiman agreed to recognize the January 25 Youth (i.e., the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution) as a national movement. However, this movement announced that the figures who had met with him did not represent it and that their demands did not reflect its demands, accusing the Committee of the Wise of treason and of betraying the values of the revolution.[16] The independent Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm reported that the January 25 Youth meant to form a new political party because the existing parties did not represent it. A Facebook campaign has been launched to promote this idea.[17]

Images taken from Facebook page of the January 25 Youth movement
http://www.facebook.com/pages/hzb-shbab-25-ynayr/196468220363858

It should be noted that the protesters received relatively sympathetic coverage in the Egyptian government press. Journalists encouraged the movement to form its own party, apparently with the aim of appeasing the demonstrators and helping to quell the protests. For example, the editor of the government daily Al-Gumhouriyya, Muhammad 'Ali Ibrahim, wrote: "It's time the effort of the youth in Tahrir Square evolved into high-level political action. They ought to have a [political] party to express their opinions... If the youth want their voice to be heard, there is no alternative but [achieving] political legitimacy, because street legitimacy has its limits... A party of the Tahrir [Square] youth would be Egypt's salvation..."[18]

Following Mubarak's resignation, the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution announced the establishment of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution and of the Trustees Committee. The latter was formed on February 16 to conduct negotiations with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces regarding Egypt's transition to democracy. Its members include former general coordinator of the National Association for Change Hassan Nafa'a, Egyptian writer 'Alaa Al-Aswani, former Muslim Brotherhood MP Muhammad Al-Baltagi, former television broadcaster Mahmoud Sa'd, and others.[19] On February 17, the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution held a press conference, at which it announced its intention to form a party called "The Liberation Revolutionaries" and presented a list of 70 figures who would be its "spokesmen." This list sparked a controversy because of the large number of Muslim Brotherhood members it included, which prompted members of the audience to complain that the Muslim Brotherhood was trying to take over the revolution of the youth.[20]

Image source:
http://www.facebook.com/sortalshohadaa#!/sortalshohadaa?v=wall

New Muslim Brotherhood Party

The Muslim Brotherhood, which played an active, albeit not central, role in the uprising against the Mubarak regime, has announced its intention to form a party called "Liberty and Justice" after the necessary changes are made to the constitution.[21] The movement's leaders have stressed that it does not advocate establishing a religious state, but is in favor of a civil state "with Islamic sources of authority." The Muslim Brotherhood has also announced that it will not run a candidate for president, and that, in the parliamentary elections, it will compete for no more than 25-30 percent of the seats, because a larger representation would not be feasible in the current political and international circumstances.[22]

Other Parties

After the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dissolved the two houses of parliament and suspended the constitution pending changes to some of its articles, several movements announced their decision to form 13 new political parties. Among these movements is Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya, which announced that its party would be "civil" in character but with Islamic values.[23] Several left-wing movements have formed a committee to establish a new socialist party to represent the working and middle classes."[24] The Egyptian Supreme Court has legalized the Al-Wasat party, a splinter group of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was formed in 1996 but was not approved by the former regime.[25]

Groups representing religious minorities have also formed with the aim of advancing their demands for change. Egyptian intellectual Tarek Heggy said he has contacted Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association, with the aim of establishing a party to promote the goal of abolishing Article Two of the constitution, which defines Islam as the primary source of legislation." [26] A new group called the National Front for the Defense of Minorities and the Civil State includes Copt, Bahai, Shi'ite and Nubian activists – such as Shi'ite activist Muhammad Al-Darini, Nubian activist Haggag Adoul, and human rights activist Mamdouh Nakhla. Some of their demands are to establish a ministry of religious affairs, to draft a new constitution denouncing discrimination and ensuring equality for all Egyptian citizens, and to establish an interim national unity government representing all Egyptians regardless of faith, religious school and ethnicity.^[27]

*L. Azuri is a research fellow at MEMRI.