The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in Egypt is busy with its internal elections to select its candidates to the People's Assembly elections scheduled at the end of next month, while opposition forces are busy settling scores among themselves. The ruling party has not found that it has to begin confronting the candidates of other political parties and forces now, because these forces will replace it in eliminating each other even before the date of the elections. I have always written about the ills suffered by the Egyptian oppositions, ills which it has never sought to resolve. I have also written about its failings: first, its failure to reach common grounds in confronting the ruling party; second, the absence democracy within itself, while it demands that the “ruling regime” to apply democracy perfectly; and third, its disconnection from the street, while it gauges the ruling party by virtue of its distance from the street in spite of all the capabilities it has at its disposal. When the leftist Tagammu Party, the liberal Wafd Party, the Arab Nasserist Party and the Democratic Front Party formed a coalition a few months ago, it seemed that the parties to the coalition did not seek to agree over principles which the four political parties would commit to. Rather, every party sought to impose its own principles, and perhaps its own interests, on the others, leading to the downfall of the coalition at the first real test, when its parties failed to settle the issue of participating in the elections or boycotting them. Even before forming the coalition had been announced, it was clear that the Wafd Party would not boycott the elections, and that its leaders considered boycott to be a loss even if the government or the ruling party fail to meet the opposition's demands of setting restrictions in order to ensure the soundness of the elections. It was also clear that the Tagammu Party, along with the Nasserist Party, would not boycott for the same reasons, and that dialogue over the principle of participation or boycott was a waste of time, as the stances of the four parties were explicit and held no surprises. Thus, when the Democratic Front Party announced that it was boycotting the elections, it seemed logical to think that the coalition had collapsed, and that its parties had failed to take a unified decision. Noteworthy is the fact that the four parties had blamed the Society of the Muslim Brotherhood for – and perhaps accused it of – taking an individual stance without coordinating with the opposition by announcing that the Brotherhood would take part in the elections, claiming that the Society had thereby struck a blow against the unity of the opposition, despite the fact that these same four parties had excluded the Muslim Brotherhood from their coalition. On the whole, those who follow the Egyptian political scene now realize the extent of the predicament within the political parties and forces of the Egyptian opposition, not just at the level of mutual accusations, but even at the internal level in every party or group. Thus, those who oppose participation in the elections speak louder than those who consider participating to be beneficial and withdrawing to serve the ruling party rather than democracy or the electoral process. The latter also consider that exposing the methods of falsification would only take place if all political forces participate, and that leaving the scene to the ruling party is what the NDP wishes for, even if it does not frankly declare it. The Egyptian opposition was not satisfied with the majority within it agreeing on participating in the elections, and the attacks against one another began. Thus the ruling party found the ground prepared for it to win the elections by a landslide, whether because of the opposition's weakness or because it is keeping itself busy, regardless of electoral “games” and of the fact that the NDP holds the capabilities of the state and makes use of them in favor of its candidates. It would be logical for the decision made by the political parties and the Muslim Brotherhood to take part in the elections not to sit well with those gathered around Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei, who have adopted a stance demanding the amendment of the constitution and of laws “bearing relation to” the parliamentary elections. Yet it is strange for the political parties to turn against each other, having failed to agree, along with the Brotherhood, over a unified stance. This is the scene in Egypt before the parliamentary elections. What to say then of what the situation will be before the presidential elections which will take place before the end of next year?
