There are many things that would make one laugh or cry and that saw the light, thrived, and evolved with the start of the Egyptian Revolution against Hosni Mubarak, and that still exist under President Mohamed Morsi. The members of the Tajarrod (‘rebellion') movement that is stirring up controversy in Egypt today are exerting tremendous efforts to gather signatures from Egyptians demanding anticipated presidential elections, and do not consider Doctor Mohamed Morsi to be the President of the Republic. This movement's most prominent feature is that it began as a popular movement and did not originate from any of the known traditional political parties, coalitions or movements before or after the Revolution, knowing that there are ongoing attempts to ride the latter's wave. And the most prominent flaw of the Tajarrod (‘objectivity') movement, which Islamists decided to form as a reaction to Tamarrod's activity and in order to declare support for Morsi as the country's President, is that it has merely been a repetition of past attempts to create counter-entities equivalent to those entities that declare themselves enemies of the Muslim Brotherhood and of its allies, or that “rebel" against the policies and the actions of those in power. It has therefore had nothing new to offer, neither in form nor in content, knowing that those in power hold all the instruments of such power, as well as all state institutions, in addition of course to their own party, to the Brotherhood itself, and to Islamist factions loyal to it. Yet in spite of this, the situation is as it is today. It is noteworthy that the innovations of opposition forces, particularly those predominantly made up of young people, are met every time with movements so traditional that they are tedious on the part of the forces that support the President, his party, and the group he is affiliated to. Moreover, the people involved in them are the same ones who appear to the public in the media in general, on satellite television in particular, and on state television naturally. This is what the founders of Tamarrod and other small groups of lesser number and influence have avoided, appearing only to achieve a specific goal, however small, like those young men who stand in public squares and streets every night carrying signs that say “if you are against the Muslim Brotherhood, honk your horn", leading to a pandemonium of noisy cars in the city's streets and squares. Those in power and their supporters aim to promote the notion that the opposition is weak, across the spectrum of politics, movements and personalities. They have succeeded to a great extent, through internet campaigns in particular, and through publicity and political campaigns in general, to “demolish" a few prominent figures. And they were helped in this by the traditional methods to which the latter resorted to voice their opposition, and of course by the fickleness of some of them, or the instability of their stances. Yet those in power have failed to stifle the heated activity of other popular and youth forces, which were unaffected by the campaigns of arrests targeting activists from among them, and in fact became even more insistent on walking down the path they have chosen. Thus Tamarrod appeared, gathering over two weeks more than a million signatures of citizens demanding the removal of the President and for anticipated elections to be held. It is true that the procedure has no legal basis, and that, even if the movement were to gather twenty million signatures demanding the President's removal, this would not stand in court or at a legislative council. Yet showing the increasing loss of the President's popularity certainly affects other forces in Egyptian society, encourages people to gather in demonstrations, influences the position taken by the army on the political conflict, and drives foreign powers – especially those supporting the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood – to think about changing their stances. On the whole, the reaction of those in power and their supporters this time has not been much different from every time before. Thus, just as “Judges for Egypt" came out to respond to the activity of the Judges' Club, and as the National Conscience Front emerged to compete against the National Salvation Front, so was Tajarrod created to take the spotlight off Tamarrod. And just as Islamists came out in demonstrations in Giza and in front of the Supreme Court to respond to the crowds gathered in protest in front of the Heliopolis (Ittihadiya) Palace or in Tahrir Square, those in power seem to be moving forward without taking notice of those who oppose them. They suffice themselves with overt maneuvering at times and clashes at others, but at the same time lose some of their supporters. This was reflected in the case of the Salafist Nour Party, whose positions today are closer to those of the Salvation Front. It is not unlikely for the clash between this party and those in power to reach in due time a stage in which the Nour Party would draw closer to Tamarrod or even become part of it!
